State Of Iowa v. Jenkins

• Decision Date: 17 September 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-0063.,09-0063.
• Citation: 788 N.W.2d 640
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Jeremy Frank JENKINS, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

788 N.W.2d 640

STATE of Iowa, Appellee,

v.Jeremy Frank JENKINS, Appellant.

No. 09-0063.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Sept. 17, 2010.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Martha J. Lucey, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Elisabeth S. Reynoldson, Assistant Attorney General, and Ricki Osborn, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

APPEL, Justice.

In this case we must determine the extent of the district court's discretion in ordering defendants to pay restitution to the Crime Victim Compensation Program. Citing precedent from the court of appeals, the district court concluded that it had no discretion in ordering restitution to the program. The court ordered the defendant to compensate the program for all monies previously distributed to the victim. The defendant appeals alleging that the instant criminal offenses were not the proximate cause of the compensated injuries.

I. Factual and Procedural Background.

A Webster County jury convicted the defendant, Jeremy Frank Jenkins, of kidnapping in the third degree and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. On March 19, 2008, the district court sentenced Jenkins as a habitual offender to an indeterminate term of imprisonment not to exceed fifteen years, with a minimum sentence of three years, for the kidnapping conviction and to an indeterminate term of imprisonment not to exceed two years on the sexual abuse conviction. The court ordered the sentences to run consecutively. The district court further ordered Jenkins to pay restitution to the victim if applicable. Because the amount of restitution was then unknown, the court ordered, “Any claim for restitution shall be filed with the Court within 30 days. If the parties cannot agree upon the amount of restitution, a hearing will be held.”

Following sentencing, the Crime Victim Compensation Program (CVCP) of the Iowa Department of Justice submitted a claim in the amount of $946.60 to the Webster County Attorney's Office for payments it previously made to the victim. The claim included two payments for lost wages totaling $899.60 and one payment of $47 for clothing and bedding replacement. The State moved for a restitution hearing.

The only witness called at the hearing was Ruth Walker, the restitution subrogation coordinator for the Crime Victim Assistance Division. Walker testified that the CVCP reimbursed the victim $659.20 for two weeks of lost wages following the criminal offense. The CVCP also reimbursed the victim $240.40 for one week of lost wages for preparation and attendance at Jenkins' trial. On cross-examination, Walker admitted that she was unaware that the victim was on unpaid leave from her job at the time the offense occurred. The victim had taken unpaid leave after Jenkins threatened her, but prior to the commission of the instant offenses. Walker testified that the CVCP reviews lost wage claims for “reasonableness” and accepts the employer's statement that the victim was “absent due to crime injuries.”

After Walker's testimony, the State moved that Jenkins be ordered to pay restitution to the CVCP in the full amount requested-$946.60. Jenkins countered that the CVCP is only entitled to partial reimbursement. According to Jenkins, the program can reimburse victims in any manner it chooses, but can only receive restitution from offenders where the criminal offense is the proximate cause of the victim's injuries. Jenkins argued that some of the victim's lost wages were not causally connected to the instance offenses. He noted that prior to the commission of the offense, the victim took unpaid leave. The victim's absence from work, therefore, was not caused by the instant offenses. Finally, Jenkins asserted the victim's attendance at trial only caused her to miss fifteen hours of work and not an entire week. During the week of trial, the victim was scheduled to work from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. According to Jenkins, the victim could have attended trial each day and then worked from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The district court ordered Jenkins to pay restitution to the CVCP in the full amount of $946.60. Citing State v. Bradley, 637 N.W.2d 206 (Iowa Ct.App.2001), the court held that it had no discretion to review a restitution order to the CVCP and that it was required to order restitution to the CVCP for all payments remitted to the victim, regardless of whether a “causal connection” existed between the criminal offense and the victim's injuries. Jenkins appealed.

II. Standard of Review.

We review restitution orders for correction of errors at law. State v. Klawonn, 688 N.W.2d 271, 274 (Iowa 2004). “When reviewing a restitution order, ‘we determine whether the court's findings lack substantial evidentiary support, or whether the court has not properly applied the law.’ ” Id. (quoting State v. Bonstetter, 637 N.W.2d 161, 165 (Iowa 2001)).

III. Discussion.

A. History of Criminal Restitution. A proper interpretation of the Iowa statute requires an understanding of the context within which this statute was enacted. See Iowa Code § 4.6(2) (2007) (instructing the court to consider “[t]he circumstances under which the statute was enacted” in determining legislative intent); 2B Norman J. Singer, Statutes and Statutory Construction § 49:1, at 7 (7th ed.2008) (suggesting court “tak[e] into consideration the historical framework” of a statute when interpreting it). Because the historical framework of this law informs our search for legislative intent, we begin our discussion with a review of the historical development of criminal restitution.

Prior to the 1970s, restitution in criminal matters was generally imposed only as a condition of probation or parole. Matthew Dickman, Should Crime Pay?: A Critical Assessment of the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996, 97 Cal. L.Rev. 1687, 1688 (2009) [hereinafter Dickman]. Over recent decades, however, both federal and state governments, including Iowa's, have enacted statutes designed to increase the level of restitution to crime victims in response to a growing victims' rights movement. See 6 Wayne R. LaFave, et al., Criminal Procedure § 26.6(c), at 824 (3d ed.2007) [hereinafter LaFave].

On the federal level, congressional activity in criminal restitution began with the enactment of the Victim and Witness Protection Act (VWPA) in 1982. Dickman, 97 Cal. L.Rev. at 1688. The VWPA expanded the discretion of federal judges to impose restitution obligations on criminal defendants. Id. In 1996, Congress strengthened restitution by passing the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (MVRA). Id. In place of the discretionary VWPA regime, the MVRA made restitution mandatory in nearly all cases. Id.

Numerous states also enacted legislation related to restitution in state criminal proceedings. By the early 1980s, approximately two-thirds of the states had enacted some kind of statutory regime providing for victim compensation. Alan T. Harland, Monetary Remedies for the Victims of Crime: Assessing the Role of the Criminal Courts, 30 UCLA L.Rev. 52, 59 (1982) [hereinafter Harland].

Several constitutional issues have arisen as a result of the restitution legislation. For example, arguments have been made that under either the Sixth or Seventh Amendment, a criminal defendant is entitled to a jury trial on all factual issues before restitution is imposed. See generally Melanie D. Wilson, In Booker's Shadow: Restitution Forces a Second Debate on Honesty in Sentencing, 39 Ind. L.Rev. 379 (2006) [hereinafter Wilson] (asserting Sixth Amendment guaranties of right to jury trial and proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt apply in sentencing); Bonnie Arnett Von Roeder, Note, The Right to a Jury Trial to Determine Restitution Under the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982, 63 Tex. L.Rev. 671 (1984) (asserting right to jury trial under Seventh Amendment).

Most federal authorities reject the requirement of a jury trial for criminal restitution. See Wilson, 39 Ind. L.Rev. at 402. Even where procedural due process applies to the offender's loss of property resulting from restitution orders, the process that is required is ordinarily less than a full blown, trial-type evidentiary hearing before a jury. LaFave, § 26.6(c), at 825-26; see also United States v. Sunrhodes, 831 F.2d 1537, 1541-43 (10th Cir.1987); United States v. Palma, 760 F.2d 475, 477-79 (3d Cir.1985); United States v. Satterfield, 743 F.2d 827, 839-40 (11th Cir.1984); Franco v. State, 918 A.2d 1158, 1162 (Del.2007); State in re D.G.W., 70 N.J. 488, 361 A.2d 513, 521 (1976); State v. Lack, 98 N.M. 500, 650 P.2d 22, 29 (1982); State v. Tuttle, 460 N.W.2d 157, 159-60 (S.D.1990); State v. Pope, 107 Wis.2d 726, 321 N.W.2d 359, 361 (Wis. Ct.App.1982); Note, Victim Restitution in the Criminal Process: A Procedural Analysis, 97 Harv. L.Rev. 931, 943 (1984) (arguing due process protections in regard to restitution are limited to notice and an informal process); Lorraine Slavin & David L. Sorin, Congress Opens a Pandora's Box-The Restitution Provisions of the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982, 52 Fordham L.Rev. 507, 544-63 (1984) (same).

In this case, Jenkins does not object to the nature of the hearing provided by the district court. The sole issue raised by Jenkins is whether, after hearing the evidence presented, the district court erred by determining that it was foreclosed by law from making a judicial determination of the “causal connection” between the amounts paid to the victim by the CVCP and the defendant's criminal activity.

For the reasons expressed below, we conclude that the district court erred in failing to make a determination regarding the amount of damages caused by the criminal activity in this case. As a result, we remand the case to the district court for further proceedings.

B. Iowa Statutory Framework. Iowa Code chapter 910 generally provides the framework for imposition of the criminal sanction of restitution. Iowa Code section 910.1(4)...