State v. Smits

216 P.3d 1097, 152 Wash. App. 514
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 21, 2009
Docket62243-9-I, 62248-0-I
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 216 P.3d 1097 (State v. Smits) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Smits, 216 P.3d 1097, 152 Wash. App. 514 (Wash. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

216 P.3d 1097 (2009)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Barry J. SMITS, Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Barry J. Smits, Appellant.

Nos. 62243-9-I, 62248-0-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

September 21, 2009.

*1098 Eric J. Nielsen, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

James Hulbert, Hilary Thomas, Kimberly Thulin, Whatcom County Pros. Atty's Office, Bellingham, WA, for Respondent.

SCHINDLER, C.J.

¶ 1 Barry Smits filed notices of appeal from the superior court decision to deny his motions under RCW 10.01.160(4) to terminate legal financial obligations (LFOs) that were imposed as part of the judgment and sentence of two criminal convictions. We hold that Smits does not have a right to appeal the denial of his motions. In addition, as in State v. Mahone, 98 Wash.App. 342, 989 P.2d 583 (1999), we hold that Smits is not entitled to review because he is not an aggrieved party under RAP 3.1. Accordingly, we deny Smits's motion to modify the Commissioner's ruling dismissing the appeals.

FACTS

¶ 2 Smits was convicted of a felony in 2005 and in 2007, Whatcom County Superior Court Cause No. 05-1-01861-8 and Cause No. 07-1-01661-0. The court imposed LFOs as part of the judgment and sentence for the two felony convictions.

¶ 3 Sometime in 2008, Smits filed motions to terminate the LFOs the court imposed in the 2005 and the 2007 judgment and sentence. The court held a hearing and entered separate orders denying the "Defendant's Motion to Terminate Legal Financial Obligations." Smits filed notices of appeal.

¶ 4 Because it appeared the decisions were not appealable, this court set a hearing to determine whether Smits had a right to appeal. Smits argued that he was entitled to appeal the decisions under the Rules of Appellate Procedure (RAP), specifically, as a final judgment under RAP 2.2(a)(1), and as an order granting or denying a motion to amend or vacate under RAP 2.2(a)(9) and (10).

¶ 5 The Commissioner ruled Smits did not have a right to appeal under RAP 2.2(a) and dismissed the appeals. The ruling states in pertinent part:

The denial of a motion to waive or terminate LFO's is not a final judgment appealable under RAP 2.2(a)(1), a denial of a motion to amend or to vacate the judgment and sentence, appealable under RAP 2.2(a)(9) or (10), or a final order after judgment which affects a substantial right, appealable under RAP 2.2(a)(13). Granting a motion to waive or terminate legal financial obligations would not change the amount he has been ordered to pay. Rather it would relieve him from the obligation of completing payment or alter the terms of payment. Regardless of how it is titled, a motion to change the payment requirements for LFOs is not truly a motion to amend. Nor is the order a "final" order because Smits is permitted to move for remission of his obligations at any time, regardless of whether his previous requests have been denied. RCW 10.01.160(4).... Because the motion to waive or terminate legal financial obligations is not truly a motion to amend the judgment and because the trial court's decision denying relief is not the final word on legal financial obligations, it does appear that Smits's only recourse is discretionary review. Smits has not made any argument for discretionary review. Accordingly, these matters will be dismissed.[1]*1099 Smits filed a motion to modify the Commissioner's ruling which the Court referred to a three judge panel for oral argument.[2]

DECISION

¶ 6 Smits filed his motions to terminate the LFOs imposed as part of the 2005 and 2007 judgment and sentence under RCW 10.01.160(4). There is no published case that addresses the question of whether a defendant has a right to appeal a decision denying such a motion. When a party moves to modify a commissioner's ruling, we review the issue de novo. State v. Nolan, 98 Wash. App. 75, 78, 988 P.2d 473 (1999).

¶ 7 The allowance and recovery of costs was unknown at common law and therefore is entirely statutory. Nolan, 98 Wash.App. at 78-79, 988 P.2d 473. In 1975, the legislature enacted RCW 10.01.160. RCW 10.01.160 allows courts to require an indigent defendant convicted of a felony to pay court costs, including recoupment of fees for court appointed counsel. RCW 10.73.160(1). The statute was modeled on an identical Oregon statute, former ORS 161.665 (1971), that allowed the court to order an indigent defendant to repay the costs of appointed counsel. Utter v. Dept. of Social and Health Services, 140 Wash.App. 293, 303, 165 P.3d 399 (2007).

¶ 8 In Fuller v. Oregon, 417 U.S. 40, 94 S.Ct. 2116, 40 L.Ed.2d 642 (1974), the United States Supreme Court upheld the Oregon statute based on the inclusion of procedural and substantive safeguards that were designed to protect the rights of indigent defendants while authorizing reimbursement from defendants who had the ability to repay the court costs.

Unlike the statutes found invalid ... where the provisions `had no other purpose or effect than to chill the assertion of constitutional rights by penalizing those who choose to exercise them,' id., at 581, 88 S.Ct., at 1216, Oregon's recoupment statute merely provides that a convicted person who later becomes able to pay for his counsel may be required to do so. Oregon's legislation is tailored to impose an obligation only upon those with a foreseeable ability to meet it, and to enforce that obligation only against those who actually become able to meet it without hardship.
[Oregon's] recoupment quite clearly directed only at those convicted defendants who are indigent at the time of the criminal proceedings against them but who subsequently gain the ability to pay the expenses of legal representation. Defendants with no likelihood of having the means to repay are not put under even a conditional obligation to do so, and those upon who a conditional obligation is imposed are not subject to collection procedures until their indigency has ended and no `manifest hardship' will result.

417 U.S. at 46, 53-54, 94 S.Ct. 2116.

¶ 9 In State v. Barklind, 87 Wash.2d 814, 557 P.2d 314 (1976), our supreme court applied Fuller in upholding a trial court's decision to order a convicted defendant to pay the costs for appointed counsel. The court held the order met the procedural and substantive safeguards identified in

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Bluebook (online)
216 P.3d 1097, 152 Wash. App. 514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-smits-washctapp-2009.