State v. Parker

139 P.3d 767, 143 Idaho 165, 2006 Ida. App. LEXIS 62
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 12, 2006
Docket31405
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 139 P.3d 767 (State v. Parker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Parker, 139 P.3d 767, 143 Idaho 165, 2006 Ida. App. LEXIS 62 (Idaho Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

LANSING, Judge.

Stacey Lynn Parker was placed on probation following her conviction for forgery. On appeal, she asserts that the district court erred in ordering her to pay, as restitution and as a condition of probation, $16,133.75 for attorney fees that the victim incurred in a separate civil action against Parker.

I.

FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

While Parker was working as a bookkeeper at a business owned by the victim, she prepared ten unauthorized checks drawn on the business’s account and totaling over $18,000, forged the victim’s signature on those checks, and deposited the funds into her own account. Parker was charged with ten counts of forgery. In addition, the victim filed a civil action against Parker and others. This lawsuit was indefinitely stayed after Parker filed a bankruptcy petition. Parker eventually pleaded guilty to one count of forgery, and the remaining charges were dismissed. At sentencing, the district court withheld judgment and placed Parker on probation. As a term of her probation and in a separate restitution order, Parker was required to pay restitution to the victim for the amounts of the forged checks. 1 In addition, over Parker’s objection, the court ordered *167 her to pay as restitution and as a condition of probation $16,133.75 for attorney fees the victim had incurred in the civil case. 2

Parker now appeals, contending that the victim’s attorney fees incurred in the civil action were not a direct economic loss resulting from her criminal conduct, and therefore not appropriate as restitution or as a condition of probation.

II.

DISCUSSION

A. Payment of Attorney Fees as Restitution

Idaho Code § 19-5304(2), authorizes trial courts to order restitution for “economic loss” that the crime victim actually suffers as a result of the crime. Parker contends that the court erred in ordering restitution here because the attorney fees incurred by the victim in her civil lawsuit against Parker were not a direct result of the criminal conduct and therefore did not qualify as an “economic loss” under I.C. § 19-5304(1)(a).

Section 19-5304(2) authorizes an order of restitution for any crime that results in an economic loss to the victim. “Economic loss” is defined as follows:

“Economic loss” includes, but is not limited to, the value of property taken, destroyed, broken, or otherwise harmed, lost wages, and direct out-of-pocket losses or expenses, such as medical expenses resulting from the criminal conduct, but does not include less tangible damage such as pain and suffering, wrongful death, or emotional distress.

I.C. § 19-5304(1)(a). One of the purposes of restitution is to obviate the need for victims to incur the cost and inconvenience of a separate civil action in order to gain compensation for their losses. State v. Waidelich, 140 Idaho 622, 624, 97 P.3d 489, 491 (Ct.App.2004); State v. Bybee, 115 Idaho 541, 543, 768 P.2d 804, 806 (Ct.App.1989). However, the statute disallows restitution for non-economic damages that might be available in a civil lawsuit, such as pain and suffering, wrongful death, emotional distress, and the like. I.C. § 19-5304(1)(a).

In State v. Olpin, 140 Idaho 377, 378, 93 P.3d 708, 709 (Ct.App.2004), we considered a restitution order compensating a business that paid salaries to its employees for investigating the extent of the defendant’s theft. We held that the business was entitled to restitution for the salaries, because the labor would not have been otherwise needed and was therefore a direct result of the defendant’s crimes. Similarly, a victim may be compensated for losses or expenses incurred in attending the restitution hearing and other criminal proceedings. State v. Doe, 140 Idaho 873, 880, 103 P.3d 967, 974 (Ct.App.2004); Olpin, 140 Idaho at 378, 93 P.3d at 709; State v. Russell, 126 Idaho 38, 39, 878 P.2d 212, 213 (Ct.App.1994). These cases show that “economic loss” includes necessary expenses or losses that the victim incurred in order to address the consequences of the criminal conduct.

It does not follow, however, that restitution may be ordered pursuant to I.C. § 19-5304 for any out-of-pocket expense that the victim would not have incurred but for the defendant’s crime. We made clear in Waidelich that there are limits to the reach of restitution. In that ease, the defendant was convicted of attempted burglary for trying to break into a home and steal a valuable puppy. The victim sought restitution for the cost she paid to board her litter of puppies for eight weeks after the attempted burglary out of concern that the defendant or his accomplices would return to steal the puppies. We held that this expense for prevention of future harm was not compensable through a restitution order, noting that the victim’s own assessment of actions necessary to respond to a crime is not the correct measure for restitution under section 19-5304. Waidelich, 140 Idaho at 624, 97 P.3d at 491.

*168 With these authorities in mind, we conclude that the principal question in assessing the restitution award for attorney fees in the present case is whether the attorney fees for filing the civil lawsuit were an expense that was necessary in order for the victim to recover the losses caused by Parker’s forgeries. It is apparent that they were not. The only claim alleged in the civil complaint relating to the forged checks was for the amount of the forged checks, which is precisely what the victim was clearly entitled to receive and did receive in the restitution order. The victim’s civil complaint also claimed damages for overpayment of wages that resulted from Parker submitting false time sheets, and for conspiracy and unjust enrichment related to two other defendants. None of these additional damages are alleged to have resulted from the forgeries. Under these circumstances, the lawsuit and the associated attorney fees were unnecessary to recover the victim’s direct loss caused by the forgeries, for that loss was entirely compensable through the restitution order in the criminal case. Any judgment that the victim might have recovered in the civil litigation for the forged cheeks would have been duplicative of the restitution ordered in the criminal case. Therefore, the attorney fees related to the lawsuit are not an economic loss compensable through a restitution order under I.C. § 19-5304(1)(a).

B. Payment of Attorney Fees as a Term of Probation

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Bluebook (online)
139 P.3d 767, 143 Idaho 165, 2006 Ida. App. LEXIS 62, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-parker-idahoctapp-2006.