State v. Smartt

447 P.3d 62, 298 Or. App. 404
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJuly 3, 2019
DocketA165792
StatusPublished

This text of 447 P.3d 62 (State v. Smartt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Smartt, 447 P.3d 62, 298 Or. App. 404 (Or. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

TOOKEY, J.

*405Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for assault in the third degree, ORS 163.165, which imposed a total of $84,046.58 in restitution against defendant. As a result of the underlying assault, the victim lost his right eye. In his sole assignment of error, defendant claims that the trial court erred in ordering restitution of $52,000 for the prosthetic eyes that the victim would need over the course of his lifetime because, according to defendant, the state failed to prove that that amount was reasonable. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

The relevant facts are not in dispute. The case arises from a physical altercation between defendant and the victim. As a result of the altercation, the victim's right eye had to be removed and the victim was fitted with a custom prosthetic eye. The state charged defendant with, among other offenses, assault in the third degree, ORS 163.165. Defendant pleaded guilty to that offense, and the trial court dismissed the remaining charges.

The state sought restitution for the economic damages caused by defendant's assault and the trial court held a restitution hearing. During that hearing, defendant stipulated to restitution for the victim's hospital bills; emergency medical transportation; the prosthetic eye that the victim had already received, if the state could establish the cost of that prosthetic eye ; and various other medical expenses. Defendant, however, disputed $52,000 in restitution that the state was seeking on the victim's behalf to compensate the victim for the cost of prosthetic eyes over the course of the victim's lifetime.

The state, for its part, called the victim, who testified that (1) prosthetic eyes need to be replaced every "five or six years," (2) he did not know the cost of the prosthetic eye that he currently had, and (3) for the creation of the prosthetic eye that he currently had, he was required to "go [in] quite a few times," and measurements had to be taken so that molds could be made.

Additionally, the state called Renae Palmer, who works in victims' assistance at the *64Harney County District *406Attorney's Office. In that role, one of her duties is to "compile restitution figures for victims of crime." Palmer testified that, in this case, she "generate[d] a restitution figure" of $52,000 for the cost of prosthetic eyes over the course of the victim's lifetime. To arrive at that figure, Palmer contacted two providers of prosthetic eyes : (1) the "only place [the victim] would be able to get a prosthetic eye in Oregon" and (2) the out-of-state provider that had made the prosthetic eye that the victim had at the time of the restitution hearing. Each provider told Palmer that the cost of a prosthetic eye was $5,200. They also told Palmer that prosthetic eyes need to be replaced every "three to five years." Using the five-year figure, Palmer estimated that the victim, who was then 30 years old, would need to have 10 prosthetic eyes made as a result of the assault, resulting in a restitution figure of $52,000.

After the restitution hearing, the trial court issued a letter opinion imposing the disputed $52,000 in restitution. The letter opinion provides, in pertinent part:

"In this case ***, the victim[ ] was unable to identify the costs of prosthetic eyes. He did identify within a range of time how often his eye would need to be replaced. This meets the reasonable medical certainty standard of the need for prosthetic eyes.
"Renae Palmer, in her role as a victim advocate, testified she had contacted two different providers, noting there is only one in Oregon. Both were consistent in their costs for eyes at $5,200 per eye. This did not include other costs to polish the eye and ongoing check-ups.
"She also testified to a belief of a life expectancy for [the victim], a 30 year old male, of 80 years.
"This Court would rely, by judicial notice, on Social Security Actuarial Tables and find his life expectancy to be 77 years. Using the conservative estimate of 5 years for a new eye, the requested amount of restitution is medically reasonable."

On appeal, defendant contends that the "trial court erred when it ordered defendant to pay $52,000 in restitution for the cost of replacement prosthetic eyes over the course of the victim's lifetime" because the "state failed to *407prove that that amount was reasonable." Defendant makes two principal arguments to support that contention.

First, defendant argues the state has to prove that charges for "medical and other health care services" are "reasonable" for such charges to be recoverable as restitution and notes that the "submission of a medical bill, without more, is insufficient proof to establish" that such charges are reasonable. Defendant further argues that Palmer's testimony regarding the cost of prosthetic eyes "provided no more information than a medical bill alone would provide."

Second, defendant argues that, "in the absence of testimony from a professional familiar with the injury, treatment, or costs involved in providing a custom prosthetic eye, the trial court, sitting as factfinder, could not be presumed to know the reasonableness of a charge for optical prosthetics services or the reasonableness of periodically replacing a prosthetic eye."

The state contends, among other points, that the record contained legally sufficient evidence to support the restitution award-viz. , "testimony from a person who is experienced in estimating such costs, and who contacted two potential providers, both of whom were consistent in the prices that they quoted."

We "review orders of restitution for errors of law." State v. McClelland , 278 Or. App. 138, 141, 372 P.3d 614, rev. den. , 360 Or. 423, 383 P.3d 862 (2016). " 'We are bound by the trial court's factual findings if they are supported by any evidence in the record[.]' " Id. (quoting State v. Pumphrey , 266 Or. App. 729, 730, 338 P.3d 819 (2014), rev. den. , 357 Or.

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Related

State v. Campbell
438 P.3d 448 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2019)
State v. Pumphrey
338 P.3d 819 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2014)
State v. Herfurth
388 P.3d 1104 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2016)
State v. McClelland
372 P.3d 614 (Coos County Circuit Court, Oregon, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
447 P.3d 62, 298 Or. App. 404, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-smartt-orctapp-2019.