State v. Palmer

CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedDecember 30, 2021
Docket122520
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Palmer (State v. Palmer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Palmer, (kanctapp 2021).

Opinion

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 122,520

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee,

v.

DEANDRE MALIK PALMER, Appellant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; ERIC WILLIAMS, judge. Opinion filed December 30, 2021. Affirmed.

Carol Longenecker Schmidt, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant.

Lesley A. Isherwood, assistant district attorney, Marc Bennett, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.

Before GARDNER, P.J., SCHROEDER and CLINE, JJ.

PER CURIAM: Deandre Malik Palmer was ordered to serve a prison sentence and pay restitution after he pleaded guilty to aggravated arson for starting a fire in a Best Western hotel. The district court ordered Palmer to pay $5,000 in restitution to Best Western for the deductible Best Western paid to its insurance carrier, Midwest Family Mutual, and $101,112.47 in restitution to Midwest for the cost to repair the fire damage. Palmer now argues the restitution portion of his sentence was illegal for including payment to Midwest and for failing to include a payment plan. Palmer also claims the

1 court abused its discretion by ordering him to pay a restitution amount which he alleges is unworkable. After a thorough review of the record and arguments on appeal, we affirm.

FACTS

Palmer set his hotel room on fire and then tried to hang himself by jumping out of the window. He was charged with aggravated arson, a severity level 3 person felony, in violation of K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 21-5812(b)(1), (c)(2)(A)(i). Palmer entered a plea agreement with the State, in which he agreed to plead guilty but reserved the right to contest whether payment of $5,000 in restitution to Best Western would be workable. The parties agreed to hold a presentencing hearing to determine what restitution, if any, Midwest should receive.

At the restitution hearing, a Midwest insurance adjustor testified about the damage caused by the fire. The adjustor testified that room 309, where Palmer set the fire, needed to be gutted entirely. She also explained that Palmer had apparently broken a pipe in the fire suppression system in his suicide attempt, which caused water to gush (instead of spray) into the room and throughout the hotel. Several rooms, hallways, elevator lobbies, and vending rooms on both the second and third floors sustained water damage, from both the damaged fire suppression system as well as the fire department's efforts to contain the fire. Meeting rooms on the third floor, stairwells on all three levels of the hotel, the entry foyer, the breakfast area, the laundry room, a men's room, a sitting area, the elevator equipment room, and even the elevator itself also sustained damage. She said the total repair cost submitted to Midwest (not including the deductible) was $114,086.53. That said, Midwest only sought $101,112.47 in restitution from Palmer, explaining the reduced amount considered depreciation as well as the $5,000 deductible.

At the hearing, Palmer did not object to paying $5,000 to Best Western, but he contested paying the full amount sought by Midwest. Palmer claimed insufficient

2 evidence supported Midwest's claim that he caused the water damage found in the other locations throughout the hotel. Palmer asked the district court to find restitution payable to Midwest in an appropriate amount, but not a windfall.

The district court ordered Palmer to pay the full amount Midwest requested, noting Midwest sought a reduced amount and finding that, but for Palmer's actions, none of the damage would have occurred.

As for workability, Palmer's counsel argued the amount sought by Midwest was unworkable based on Palmer's: (1) limited education (he only had a high school diploma), (2) financial status (he was previously working a job that paid only $10 an hour), and (3) employment history (he had been working labor jobs in the construction field). While Palmer's counsel suggested Palmer planned to pursue further education while in prison, she argued his future earning capacity was unknown, as were his future financial obligations and debts once released. Based on these factors, Palmer's counsel argued he would be unable to pay this restitution amount in his lifetime. The State countered that it would be premature to declare restitution unworkable, as Palmer would not have to make restitution payments until released.

The district court was unpersuaded by Palmer's workability arguments, noting his financial status upon release was unknown. It sentenced Palmer to 48 months in prison, followed by 36 months' postrelease supervision. The court imposed the full amount of restitution requested, which included $101,112.47 payable to Midwest and $5,000 payable to Best Western. The court made Palmer's restitution a condition of his postrelease supervision and noted it was "immediately due and owing" in its journal entry of sentencing.

3 ANALYSIS

Restitution to Midwest

Palmer argues on appeal that the district court erred in awarding restitution to Midwest. He presents two arguments, both of which he failed to raise below. First, he argues insurance carriers are not entitled to restitution under K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 21- 6604(b)(1). Next, he argues substantial competent evidence did not support the district court's conclusion that Midwest suffered an actual loss from his crime.

Palmer contends that he preserved these issues because his attorney objected to the district court awarding a "windfall" to Midwest, but his arguments on appeal are distinctly different. While Palmer asked the district court to avoid a windfall and order an appropriate amount of restitution payable to Midwest, he asks us to find the district court erred in granting any award to Midwest. His supporting arguments are also different. Below, Palmer contested the amount of restitution based on the lack of causation linking his crime to the additional water damage found in other areas of the hotel. He does not raise this argument on appeal. Instead, he argues for the first time that (1) K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 21-6604(b)(1) does not permit restitution awards to insurance carriers such as Midwest and (2) substantial competent evidence did not support the district court's finding that Midwest suffered an actual loss because the State failed to present evidence of the premium payments Best Western made to Midwest, which Palmer now argues should have been deducted from the restitution amount.

We seldom consider issues not raised before the district court—including those involving restitution. See State v. King, 288 Kan. 333, 353-54, 204 P.3d 585 (2009); State v. Hunziker, 274 Kan. 655, 669, 56 P.3d 202 (2002). Although we have the discretion to consider a newly raised issue "'if the party trying to raise a new issue shows a recognized exception to the general rule,'" Palmer failed to do so here. State v. Allen, 314 Kan. ___,

4 497 P.3d 566, 570 (2021). What is more, Palmer's arguments requiring the amount of Midwest's "actual loss" would require us to make factual findings, which we cannot do.

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

Related

State v. Hunziker
56 P.3d 202 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2002)
State v. Herron
335 P.3d 1211 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2014)
State v. Alcala
348 P.3d 570 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2015)
State v. Shank
369 P.3d 322 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2016)
State v. Meeks
415 P.3d 400 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2018)
State v. Johnson
441 P.3d 1036 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2019)
State v. McAlister
444 P.3d 923 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2019)
State v. Sartin
446 P.3d 1068 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2019)
State v. Hambright
447 P.3d 972 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2019)
State v. Henry
461 P.3d 849 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020)
State v. Roberts
461 P.3d 77 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020)
State v. Tucker
465 P.3d 173 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2020)
State v. Robison
496 P.3d 892 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2021)
State v. Arnett
496 P.3d 928 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2021)
State v. Allen
497 P.3d 566 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2021)
State v. King
204 P.3d 585 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2009)
State v. Kelly
318 P.3d 987 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2014)
State v. Alderson
322 P.3d 364 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State v. Palmer, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-palmer-kanctapp-2021.