State v. Walton

443 P.3d 1157, 297 Or. App. 710
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 30, 2019
DocketA159620
StatusPublished

This text of 443 P.3d 1157 (State v. Walton) 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. Walton, 443 P.3d 1157, 297 Or. App. 710 (Or. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

*711Defendant appeals a supplemental judgment ordering him to pay restitution, arguing that the trial court lacked authority to order restitution outside the procedural requirements set out in ORS 147.500 to 147.550, the statutes effectuating crime victims' rights under Article I, section 42, of the Oregon Constitution. Defendant presents this specific argument for the first time on appeal and requests that we review the trial court's order for plain error. The state responds that the trial court did not plainly err because the error was not "obvious."1 Furthermore, the state argues that, even if the trial court did plainly err, we should not exercise our discretion to correct the error. We need not decide whether the error was plain because even if we were to do so, we would decline to exercise our discretion to correct it. Accordingly, we affirm.

Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree criminal mischief on July 15, 2014. Defendant stipulated to his liability for restitution but requested a hearing to contest the amount. The trial court sentenced defendant to bench probation and set a restitution hearing2 for October 7, 2014, 84 days later. However, the court failed to docket the hearing and the hearing did not take place. No one brought the error to the court's attention at that time.

*712On November 20, 2014, 128 days after defendant was sentenced, the victim called *1159the district attorney's office to inquire about the restitution. Due to the assigned prosecutor being "out of the office" at that time and other staffing issues, the district attorney waited until March 23, 2015-251 days after sentencing-to file a motion to extend the restitution deadline and to set a hearing.

On April 17, 2015, the trial court held a hearing to address the restitution issue. The state made two arguments in support of its untimely restitution request. First, the state argued that good cause existed to authorize restitution under ORS 137.106(1)(a).3 Second, the state alternatively argued that, regardless of the untimely request, the court should still order that defendant pay restitution so as to avoid violating the victim's right "to receive prompt restitution" under Article I, section 42. Defendant responded that (1) no good cause existed to justify an extended deadline and (2) the trial court lacked authority to order restitution under Article I, section 42, because the state lacked standing to assert a claim on the victim's behalf. The victim spoke on his own behalf through an interpreter, and told the trial court that he was "seeking restitution * * * caused by the defendant[.]" Defendant agreed that the restitution amount that the victim sought was factually supported.

The trial court agreed with defendant's argument as to ORS 137.106, determining that the state had not shown good cause for the delay past the 90-day deadline required by that statute. However, relying on our decision in State v. Thompson , 257 Or. App. 336, 306 P.3d 731, rev. den. , 354 Or. 390, 315 P.3d 421 (2013), the court concluded that the situation amounted to a violation of the victim's Article I, section 42, right to prompt restitution, and further, that it had authority to order defendant to pay restitution to remedy that violation. The court explained:

"I don't think that it's really giving the victim a realistic remedy to suggest that I should not order restitution and *713then put [the victim] to the task, when he's done everything he needs to do, including being here twice for court hearings, to have to then initiate some sort of separate legal process to receive the remedy that he should have for violation of his rights.

"And so where I come down with this is that there needs to be a remedy for this which-and there's no doubt that the defendant should pay restitution, because he admitted responsibility for it, and there's no dispute that it's reasonably related to the crime, and there's no dispute the amount is reasonable. * * *

"And so I find that to remedy the constitutional violation that would occur if I were to deny restitution, I am going to re-sentence the defendant, if you will, and impose restitution at this time."

The court issued a supplemental judgment on April 29, 2015, reflecting its conclusion and ordering defendant to pay $ 346 in restitution to the victim.

On appeal, it is uncontested that good cause did not exist to justify the delay in holding the restitution hearing under ORS 137.106. Defendant argues, for the first time on appeal, that the court also lacked authority to order restitution under Article I, section 42, because, he asserts, neither the victim nor the court complied with ORS 147.500 to 147.550, the statutory procedures the legislature has provided for a victim to assert a violation of his or her Article I, section 42, rights. He asks us to review the restitution order as plain error and to exercise our discretion to correct it. The state responds that defendant's asserted error is not plain because it is not "obvious," as this was an open question of law. That is, whereas in Thompson , the victim followed the statutory procedures for asserting a constitutional violation of the right to receive prompt restitution, 257 Or. App at 339, 306 P.3d 731, in this case, the victim did not. The state also argues that even if plain error occurred, we should not exercise our discretion to review the error.

As both parties correctly note, the particular statutory arguments defendant *1160makes on appeal were not preserved below. See ORAP 5.45(1) ("No matter claimed as *714error will be considered on appeal unless the claim of error was preserved in the lower court[.]").

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Related

Ailes v. Portland Meadows, Inc.
823 P.2d 956 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1991)
State v. Easton
126 P.3d 1256 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2006)
State v. Vanornum
317 P.3d 889 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2013)
State v. Thompson
306 P.3d 731 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2013)
State v. Morgan
359 P.3d 1242 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
443 P.3d 1157, 297 Or. App. 710, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-walton-orctapp-2019.