Meerscheidt v. State

• Decision Date: 08 January 1997
• Docket Number: Nos. 96-26,s. 96-26
• Citation: 931 P.2d 220
• Parties: Troy MEERSCHEIDT, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). Matt BENNETT, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). Nate DOBSON, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). Mike DAVID, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). to 96-28 and 96-33.
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Page 220

931 P.2d 220

Troy MEERSCHEIDT, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

Matt BENNETT, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

Nate DOBSON, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

Mike DAVID, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

Nos. 96-26 to 96-28 and 96-33.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

Jan. 8, 1997.

Sylvia L. Hackl, State Public Defender; Deborah Cornia, Appellate Counsel; and Donna D. Domonkos, Assistant Appellate Counsel, for Meerscheidt and David.

James W. Gusea of Gusea, Pattno & White, P.C., Cheyenne, for Bennett.

Ronald G. Pretty, Cheyenne, for Dobson.

William U. Hill, Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Before TAYLOR, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN and LEHMAN, JJ.

Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Georgia L. Tibbetts, Assistant Attorney General; Theodore E. Lauer, Director of the Prosecution Assistance Program; and T. Alan Elrod and Michael A. Iozzo, Student Interns for the Prosecution Assistance Program, for State.

MACY, Justice.

These cases arose out of the same criminal conduct and were consolidated by this Court for oral argument and decision. Appellants Troy Meerscheidt, Matt Bennett, and Nate Dobson appeal from the judgments and sentences which the district court entered after each of them pleaded guilty to two counts of felony property destruction. Appellant Mike David appeals from the judgment and sentence which the district court entered after he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree arson.

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

ISSUES

Meerscheidt presents the following issues for our review:

ISSUE I

Did the trial court abuse its discretion when it ordered the appellant to pay for the victims' loss of enjoyment of life?

ISSUE II

Did the trial court err when it ordered the appellant to pay for the replacement of the Kelly[s'] dining room table?

ISSUE III

Did the trial court err when it declared the insurance companies to be victims without determining subrogation rights?

ISSUE IV

Did the trial court abuse its discretion when it placed unreasonable and improper conditions of probation on the appellant?

Bennett and Dobson present identical issues in their appellate briefs:

I.

Was restitution in the amount of $8,000.00 to the Lanes and $16,000.00 to the Kellys for loss of enjoyment of life proper?

II.

Was restitution to the Kellys in the amount of $3,293.84 for replacement of a table and chairs proper when only the table top was damaged and the cost to repair the table top was already included in other restitution amounts?

III.

Is possible restitution in an unknown amount for future moving expenses proper?

IV.

Is the requirement that the appellant pay an additional $1,500.00 to the crime victim's compensation account, if restitution for loss of enjoyment of life is overturned, proper?

David phrases his issues on appeal as follows:

ISSUE I

Did the trial court abuse its discretion when it ordered the appellant to pay for the victims' loss of enjoyment of life?

ISSUE II

Did the trial court err when it ordered the appellant to pay for the replacement of the Kelly[s'] dining room table?

ISSUE III

Did the trial court err when it declared the insurance companies to be victims without determining subrogation rights?

FACTS

In the early morning hours of July 11, 1995, David suggested that the appellants drive to the Kellys' house and the Lanes' house because he was upset with certain members of those households. Although David provided directions to the two houses, the record is not clear as to whether he actually accompanied the other appellants to Pursuant to plea agreements, Meerscheidt, Bennett, and Dobson each pleaded guilty to two counts of felony property destruction. The district court held their pleas in abeyance and deferred their sentences. It placed them on probation pursuant to WYO. STAT. § 7-13-301 (1995) and ordered them to pay restitution for their crimes. David pleaded guilty under a plea agreement to two counts of first-degree arson. The district court sentenced David to serve a term of not less than three years nor more than five years in the Wyoming Department of Corrections, recommending that he be placed in the Wyoming Boot Camp. The district court also ordered David to pay restitution. Each appellant subsequently appealed to this Court.

the residences. In any event, the appellants threw rocks and broke a window in each house, and then they threw lighted "Roman candles" into the houses through the broken windows. Both houses were damaged by the rocks and the fireworks.

DISCUSSION

A. Restitution for Loss of Enjoyment of Life

At the sentencing hearings, the victims testified that, as a result of the incidents, they were having trouble sleeping, they could not use the damaged rooms, and they worried about their families' safety. The district court ordered the appellants to pay $16,000 to the Kellys and $8,000 to the Lanes in restitution for their loss of enjoyment of life. The appellants contend that the district court erred by awarding that restitution because such awards are not authorized by the relevant statutes.

We need to examine the applicable statutes in order to determine whether the district court properly ordered the appellants to pay restitution for the victims' loss of enjoyment of life. WYO. STAT. § 7-9-103(a) (1995) provides in pertinent part:

(a) The court shall require restitution by a defendant if it determines or finds that the defendant has or will have an ability to pay or that a reasonable probability exists that the defendant will have an ability to pay. If restitution is ordered, or at the time the defendant is placed on probation, the court shall fix a reasonable amount as restitution owed to each victim for actual pecuniary damage resulting from the defendant's criminal activity, and shall include its determination of the pecuniary damage as a special finding in the judgment of conviction or in the order placing the defendant on probation under W.S. 7-13-301. In determining the amount of restitution, the court shall consider and include as a special finding, each victim's reasonably foreseeable actual pecuniary damage that will result in the future as a result of the defendant's criminal activity.

Restitution is defined as "full or partial payment of pecuniary damage to a victim." WYO. STAT. § 7-9-101(a)(iv) (1995). Pecuniary damage is

all damages which a victim could recover against the defendant in a civil action arising out of the same facts or event, including damages for wrongful death. It does not include punitive damages and damages for pain, suffering, mental anguish and loss of consortium[.]

WYO. STAT. § 7-9-101(a)(iii) (1995).

We endeavor to interpret statutes in accordance with the legislature's intent. State Department of Revenue and Taxation v. Pacificorp, 872 P.2d 1163, 1166 (Wyo.1994). We begin by making an " 'inquiry respecting the ordinary and obvious meaning of the words employed according to their arrangement and connection.' " Parker Land and Cattle Company v. Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, 845 P.2d 1040, 1042 (Wyo.1993) (quoting Rasmussen v. Baker, 7 Wyo. 117, 133, 50 P. 819, 823 (1897)). We construe the statute as a whole, giving effect to every word, clause, and sentence, and we construe together all parts of the statute in pari materia. 845 P.2d at 1042.

When the words used are clear and unambiguous, that language establishes the rule of law. A statute is ambiguous only where its meaning is vague or ambiguous and subject to varying interpretations. Only if the wording is ambiguous or unclear to the point of demonstrating obscurity with respect to the legislative purpose or mandate do we resort to additional construction.

Rivera v. State, 846 P.2d 1, 6 (Wyo.1993) (citations omitted). Penal statutes must be strictly construed and "cannot be enlarged by implication or extended by inference or construction." Smith v. State, 902 P.2d 1271, 1284 (Wyo.1995). "We also recognize that ambiguity in a criminal statute should be resolved in favor of lenity." ALJ v. State, 836 P.2d 307, 310 (Wyo.1992).

The statutes generally allow a district court in a criminal case to award those damages as restitution which are available in a civil case. Sections 7-9-101(a)(iv), -103(a). Certain types of damages, however, may not be awarded: punitive damages and damages for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and loss of consortium. Section 7-9-101(a)(iv). The statutes do not directly address whether damages for loss of enjoyment of life may be awarded as restitution. Although those damages are available in civil cases, Mariner v. Marsden, 610 P.2d 6, 11-13 (Wyo.1980), they are akin to the damages for pain, suffering, and mental anguish which are expressly excluded in criminal cases. We are convinced, therefore, that an inherent ambiguity exists in the statutory pecuniary damages definition and warrants a further investigation into the legislature's intent.

Damages for pain, suffering, and mental anguish are general damages. Mariner, 610 P.2d at 11. General damages are

"those which may not be fixed with any degree of pecuniary exactitude but which, instead, involve mental or physical pain or suffering, inconvenience, the loss of gratification of intellectual or physical enjoyment, or other losses of life or life-style which cannot really be measured definitively in terms of money."

Id. (quoting Anderson v. Welding Testing Laboratory, Inc., 304 So.2d 351, 352 (La.1974)) (emphasis omitted). Damages for loss of enjoyment of life also fall within the definition of general damages. Id.

Section 7-9-103(a) allows for the award of restitution for actual pecuniary damages. Pecuniary damages are generally defined as those damages which "can be estimated in and compensated by money." BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 353 (5th ed.1979). In contrast,...