State v. Rodrigues

2009 UT 62, 218 P.3d 610, 639 Utah Adv. Rep. 36, 2009 Utah LEXIS 189, 2009 WL 3048413
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 25, 2009
Docket20070741
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 2009 UT 62 (State v. Rodrigues) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Rodrigues, 2009 UT 62, 218 P.3d 610, 639 Utah Adv. Rep. 36, 2009 Utah LEXIS 189, 2009 WL 3048413 (Utah 2009).

Opinion

On Certification from the Utah Court of Appeals

PARRISH, Justice:

INTRODUCTION

T1 Defendant appeals the district court's order amending and increasing its initial order of restitution. This appeal requires us to consider: (1) whether a district court has jurisdiction to amend an order of restitution under rule 30(b) of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure where the State mistakenly provided the court with an incorrect figure of restitution at the sentencing hearing; and (2) assuming the court had jurisdiction, whether the amended order of restitution violates protections against double jeopardy or defendant's due process rights to presence and allocution.

12 We hold that in this case rule 30(b) applies, and the district court had jurisdiction to amend the order of restitution. We further hold that double jeopardy did not attach and that defendant's due process rights were not violated when the district court corrected a clerical error regarding the amount of restitution ordered. We therefore affirm the district court's amended order of restitution.

BACKGROUND

3 Ronald Richard Rodrigues was charged with two counts of eriminal nonsupport, a third degree felony, in violation of Utah Code section 76-7-201 (2008). In the first count, the State alleged that Mr. Rodrigues failed to support the child he had with Jennifer Falsone; in the second count, the State alleged that Mr. Rodrigues failed to support the two children that he had with Michele Rodrigues.

1 4 In May 2005, Mr. Rodrigues agreed to plead guilty to one count of criminal nonsupport and to pay restitution "in the amount of the total amount of child support arrears owed for the support of [his] children on both counts from May 1999 through the date of sentencing." Pursuant to the plea agreement, Mr. Rodrigues agreed that restitution would be calculated at $617 per month ($289 to Ms. Falsone and $328 to Ms. Rodrigues) plus interest. The plea agreement indicates that at the time it was signed Mr. Rodrigues owed $49,000.46, and that "(aln updated calculation [of the total amount of child support owed would] be provided the day of Sentencing."

T5 After Mr. Rodrigues signed the plea agreement, the district court scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 11, 2005, but Mr. Rodrigues failed to appear for the hearing and fled the State. The district court issued an arrest warrant, and Mr. Rodrigues was apprehended more than a year and a half later on January 17, 2007.

*613 T6 About a month before Mr. Rodrigues's sentencing, Adult Probation and Parole prepared a Presentence Investigation Report (the "PSR"). The PSR confirmed that Mr. Rodrigues was obligated to pay $289 per month to Ms. Falsone and $328 per month to Ms. Rodrigues for child support. The "Vic tim Impact Statement and Restitution" seetion in the PSR indicates that the State sought restitution "owed for both families from May 1, 1999, through the date of sentencing" and that "[als of February 2, 2007, that amount totalfed] $63,507.71."

T7 On March 19, 2007, Mr. Rodrigues appeared for sentencing before the district court and "concur{red] with the recommendations in the [PSR]." The district court suggested what it thought was the correct amount of restitution and asked the parties if it was correct. The State responded that pursuant to the plea agreement the actual amount was higher. The court then asked for the total amount of child support owed, and the State indicated that as of "today's date" Mr. Rodrigues owed $30,680.96 1 to one of the mothers and $24,078.76 to the other. Adding those two figures the court came up with a total arrearage of $54,760.

18 Mr. Rodrigues did not object to the characterization or the amount of restitution that was presented to the district court. At the end of the hearing the district court sentenced Mr. Rodrigues to an "indeterminate term [of] zero to five years in the state penitentiary" and ordered that he "pay the sum of $54,600 2 in restitution." The sentencing order entered by the district court indicates, in relevant part, that the court awarded "[al restitution judgment in favor of the State of Utah ... in the amount of $54,600.00 which represents child support arrears for the Defendant's children with Jennifer Falsone and Michele Rodrigues through March 19, 2007."

T9 After the district court entered the sentencing order, the State filed a motion to amend the restitution order under Utah Rule of Criminal Procedure 80(b) on the basis of a clerical error in the judgment. Mr. Rodri-gues was not present for the hearing to consider the State's motion. At that hearing, the State indicated it "picked up the wrong computation" at sentencing and provided the court with an incorrect figure for the total restitution owed to Ms. Rodrigues. The State argued that the error was clerical and that the district court should amend the order of restitution pursuant to rule 30(b). Through counsel, Mr. Rodrigues argued that (1) the district court lacked jurisdiction to amend the restitution order and (2) amending the restitution order would violate due process. The district court granted the State's motion and increased the total amount of restitution from $54,600 to $65,403.66, reasoning that there had been a misstatement of what was actually owed and that the increased restitution conformed to the intent of the parties under the plea agreement.

{10 Mr. Rodrigues appeals the district court's decision to amend and increase the total amount of restitution. This appeal was originally before the court of appeals, which then certified it to us. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Utah Code section 78A-3-102(8)(b) (2008).

STANDARD OF REVIEW

11 Whether the district court had jurisdiction to amend and increase its initial order of restitution requires us to interpret rule 30(b) of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure. "[TJhe interpretation of a rule of procedure is a question of law that we review for correctness." Brown v. Glover, 2000 UT 89, ¶ 15, 16 P.3d 540.

*614 112 Whether the entry of the district court's amended order of restitution violates protections afforded by the Double Jeopardy Clause or the Due Process Clause presents constitutional issues that are questions of law that we review for correctness. Chen v. Stewart, 2004 UT 82, ¶ 25, 100 P.3d 1177.

ANALYSIS

I. THE DISTRICT COURT HAD JURISDICTION TO AMEND ITS INITIAL ORDER OF RESTITUTION

{13 Whether the district court had jurisdiction to amend and increase its initial order of restitution hinges on whether the district court was correcting a clerical error pursuant to rule 30(b) of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure. Onee a court imposes a valid sentence and final judgment is entered, the court ordinarily loses subject matter jurisdiction over the case. See State v. Montoya, 825 P.2d 676, 679 (Utah Ct.App.1991). However, pursuant to rule 80(b), "[ellerical mistakes in judgments, orders or other parts of the record and errors in the record arising from oversight or omission may be corrected by the court at any time" Utah R.Crim. P. 80(b) (emphasis added).

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

Related

State v. Blake
2025 UT 21 (Utah Supreme Court, 2025)
State v. Fretwell
2025 UT App 96 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2025)
State v. Mooring
2024 UT App 49 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2024)
Utah Office for Victims of Crime v. Hembree
2023 UT App 112 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2023)
State v. Grover
2022 UT App 48 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2022)
Robertson v. Stevens
2020 UT App 29 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2020)
Peck v. Peck
2020 UT App 14 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2020)
State v. Hon. Boyden
2019 UT 11 (Utah Supreme Court, 2019)
State v. Williams
2018 UT App 176 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2018)
James William Mock, III v. State of Florida
249 So. 3d 742 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)
State v. Wynn
2017 UT App 211 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2017)
State v. Watring
2017 UT App 100 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2017)
State v. Speed
2017 UT App 76 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2017)
State v. Courtney
2017 UT App 62 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2017)
State v. Ricketts
2017 UT App 51 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2017)
Aaron M. Annatone v. State
198 So. 3d 1031 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2016)
People v. McLain
2016 COA 74 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2016)
State v. Kropf
2015 UT App 223 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2015)
State v. Poole
2015 UT App 220 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2015)
State v. Apadaca
2015 UT App 212 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2009 UT 62, 218 P.3d 610, 639 Utah Adv. Rep. 36, 2009 Utah LEXIS 189, 2009 WL 3048413, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rodrigues-utah-2009.