State v. O'DONNELL

495 A.2d 798, 1985 Me. LEXIS 768
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedJuly 11, 1985
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 495 A.2d 798 (State v. O'DONNELL) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. O'DONNELL, 495 A.2d 798, 1985 Me. LEXIS 768 (Me. 1985).

Opinions

SCOLNIK, Justice.

A Superior Court jury, Androscoggin County, found the defendant, George O’Donnell, guilty of aggregated theft, 17-A M.R.S.A. §§ 353, 352(5)(E) and of violations of the prearranged funerals law, 32 M.R.S.A. § 1401. The defendant appeals the court’s subsequent restitution order and imposition of a six-year prison term, with all but three years suspended. He alleges the court sentenced him illegally by (1) ordering him to make restitution for wrongdoing for which he was never indicted, tried, or convicted, (2) requiring him to make restitution without considering his ability to pay, and (3) considering that same wrongdoing as a factor in deciding the term of imprisonment. With the exception [800]*800of certain portions of the restitution order, we affirm the judgment.

I.

At sentencing, the court ordered the defendant, inter alia, as a condition of probation, to make restitution of $15,501 within twenty-four months to fourteen victims:

1. Emily Huntington $ 600
2. Leo Bilodeau 1781
3. Eleanor Henery 900
4. Lea Donahue 1000
5. Delia Mareeau 590
6. Henery Mareeau 1800
7. Norman Jolicoeur 500
8. Norman Bonnevie 1185
9. Marie LeClerc 2090
10. Marie McGraw 1025
11. Donia Moreau 1570
12. Bella Morin 675
13. Phillip Spruce 1285
14. Earle Welch 500
Total: $15,501

Following a later hearing on the defendant’s motion to correct the sentence, pursuant to M.R.Crim.P. 35, the Court modified the order, striking restitution in those instances where the defendant’s criminal conduct occurred more than six years prior to the commencement of prosecution. As modified, the order eliminated the defendant’s restitution obligations to Jolicoeur, Bonnevie, LeClerc, McGraw and Welch and required him to pay a total of $10,201 to the remaining victims. On appeal before this Court, both the State and the defendant agree the restitution order should be amended still further, eliminating the defendant’s obligations to victims Spruce and Moreau, as also barred by the statute of limitations. This would reduce the total of the defendant’s obligation to $7346, but it would, nevertheless, require that he make restitution in the amount of $600 to Emily Huntington, a victim not named in the indictment.1 The defendant argues that the Court exceeded its authority by ordering him to make restitution for -a crime for which he was never indicted. The State maintains that the absence of an express statutory prohibition, the imperatives of the restitution provision of our criminal code, and the facts of this case — specifically, the defendant’s “admission” and his expressed desire to make reparation — combine to provide a sufficient basis for the restitution order. We agree with the defendant.

Under the sentencing provisions of our criminal code, a court is authorized to require “[ejvery natural person convicted of a crime ... to make restitution as authorized by chapter 5k.” (emphasis added) 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1152(2-A). Whether restitution is imposed directly or as a condition of probation under § 1204(2-A)(B), a sentencing justice may only require a convicted person “[t]o make restitution pursuant to chapter 54_” Id. To require restitution beyond the limits of the statute is an invalid order that exceeds the court’s authority.

In chapter 54, the Legislature has set forth in detail, inter alia, the purposes of restitution, the criteria to be employed by the sentencing judge, and the conditions under which restitution may be required. The purpose of restitution is “to encourage the compensation of victims by the person most responsible for the loss incurred by the victim, the offender.” 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1321. Moreover, the Legislature has declared that, beyond simply helping victims of crime, “repayment ... by the offender to the victim of his crime can operate to rehabilitate the offender in certain instances.” (emphasis added) Id. Because of the defendant’s admission at trial regarding money obtained from Emily Huntington and his subsequent offer to make reparations, the State would have us interpret “victim” to include a person who suffers economic loss as a result of an uncharged crime for which the defendant has not been convicted. We reject such a loose construction of the statute.

[801]*801The definitions section of chapter 54 defines “offender” as “any natural person convicted of a crime.” (emphasis added) § 1322(5). “ ‘Victim’ means a person who suffers personal injury, death or economic loss as a result of a crime_” (emphasis added) § 1322(7). Certainly, Emily Huntington may be considered a “victim” in the sense that her money was not utilized in the way she intended. This does not, however, qualify her as a victim of a crime for which the defendant/“offender” was never charged or convicted. See State v. Eilts, 23 Wash.App. 39, 596 P.2d 1050, 1053 (1979). We conclude the Legislature intended “offender” to be limited to a person convicted of a crime alleged in the charging instrument and “victim” to mean a person who suffers “personal injury, death or economic loss” as a result of that crime. Plainly, the defendant was never convicted of a crime against Emily Huntington.2

Our interpretation of the statute is reinforced by the provision in section 1324(2), set forth in footnote 3, that designates a county in which the offense was prosecuted as an authorized claimant if the victim refuses restitution or if the identity of the victim cannot be ascertained. Clearly, an uncharged crime is also of necessity an unprosecuted offense, and the Legislature could not have intended a defendant charged in one county to make restitution to another county as a substitute authorized claimant with regard to a pattern of criminal activity involving victims from more than one county.

Moreover, section 1325(1)(A) mandates that the court, in determining the amount of authorized restitution, give consideration to the contributory misconduct, if any, of the victim. Section 1325(2)(B) provides that the court may not authorize restitution to a victim who is an accomplice of the offender. Section 1327 requires the court to deduct restitution ordered and paid from any judgment in a civil action brought by a victim “based on the same facts.” One would expect the facts of a charged crime to be fully developed during trial or sentencing, so that section 1327 may be meaningfully applied. One would not expect the facts relating to uncharged crimes and their collateral victims to be as carefully explored. Nor could the Legislature have contemplated an in-depth judicial inquiry with respect to the possible complicity or contributory misconduct of alleged collateral victims who were not the victims of the offense charged.

It is also readily apparent that we are not permitted to treat this restitution order merely as “any other” condition of probation, under § 1204(2-A)(M).3

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Maine v. Christopher T. Knight
2016 ME 123 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2016)
State v. Downs
2007 ME 41 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2007)
State v. McCray
1999 ME 151 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1999)
State v. Walker
675 A.2d 499 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1996)
State v. Whitten
667 A.2d 849 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1995)
State v. Chattley
650 A.2d 948 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1994)
State v. Lane
649 A.2d 1112 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1994)
State v. Winslow
556 A.2d 1093 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1989)
Rumple v. State
529 N.E.2d 861 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1988)
State v. Hopkins
526 A.2d 945 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1987)
Smith v. State
517 A.2d 1081 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1986)
State v. LA CASCE
512 A.2d 312 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1986)
State v. LaCasce
512 A.2d 312 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1986)
State v. Dumont
507 A.2d 164 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1986)
State v. Beaudoin
503 A.2d 1289 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1986)
State v. O'DONNELL
495 A.2d 798 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
495 A.2d 798, 1985 Me. LEXIS 768, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-odonnell-me-1985.