State v. Futrell, 115,160
| Decision Date | 08 June 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 115,160,115,160 |
| Citation | 418 P.3d 1262 |
| Parties | STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Christopher Scott FUTRELL, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Rick Kittel, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, Lawrence, was on the brief for appellant.
Barry K. Disney, assistant county attorney, Barry Wilkerson, county attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, were on the brief for appellee.
Christopher Futrell requests this court's review of the portion of the Court of Appeals decision affirming the district court's order of restitution. We reverse this portion of the Court of Appeals decision and remand the case to the district court for a new hearing on restitution.
On January 31, 2015, Ryan Platt's vehicle was parked at an event that his business, RP Entertainment, was hosting. Platt alleged that, on that evening, someone smashed one of the windows of his vehicle and took approximately $5,000 in cash from within.
Almost three weeks later, Platt reported another crime. He claimed that, on February 20, 2015, someone cut open the screen door to his home, entered his house, and took his wife's wedding ring and some cash stored in a briefcase. Platt also alleged that someone stole more cash from the console of a vehicle parked at his home.
Platt told police that he believed that one of his employees, Christopher Futrell, was responsible for the burglaries and thefts. Police obtained a warrant to search Futrell's house. Upon executing the warrant, the police found a safe that contained Platt's wife's wedding ring, $604 in cash, receipts for cash purchases beginning January 31, 2015, that totaled over $1,000, and a receipt for the purchase of a motorcycle on February 12, 2015, for more than $6,000. A motorcycle was also located at Futrell's house. The ring was eventually returned to Platt.
Futrell was charged with burglary and theft for the break-in of Platt's vehicle on January 31, 2015, and burglary and theft for the break-in of Platt's house on February 20, 2015.
Before the case went to trial, the State and Futrell entered into a plea agreement. Futrell agreed to plead no contest to the residential burglary of Platt's home in exchange for the State dismissing all other charges, including all theft charges. The agreement further provided that the State would dismiss a separate and unrelated case against Futrell, in which he was alleged to have smashed Emily Foye's cell phone, causing $500 in damage. With regard to restitution, the agreement stated that "[t]he issue of restitution is open, including whether a motorcycle seized during a search of the defendant's home was converted from stolen property and should be forfeited by the defendant." The agreement also provided that "the parties agree that the State may ask for restitution" for the alleged damage to the cell phone in the separate case.
Futrell entered a plea of no contest to the burglary of the Platt residence, and the remaining counts and separate case were dismissed.
Prior to sentencing, Futrell filed a motion requesting that the court order restitution only for the $250 in damage caused to the screen door in the residential burglary, because, pursuant to the reasoning in State v. Miller , 51 Kan. App. 2d 869, 355 P.3d 716 (2015), that was the only damage "caused" by his crime of burglary.
At the sentencing hearing, the State sought restitution for the following damages: $250 for the broken screen door; $680 for the money missing from Platt's home and vehicle on February 20; $303.41 for the broken window on Platt's vehicle; $6,220 for the cash missing from Platt's vehicle on January 31; and $500 for the damage to Foye's cell phone. Futrell renewed his argument that the court could only order him to pay $250 in restitution for the damage to the screen door.
The court sentenced Futrell to 12 months' imprisonment, suspended the imposition of his prison sentence, and placed him on 24 months of supervised probation. The court then denied Futrell's motion to limit restitution to $250 and ordered the restitution as requested by the State.
Futrell appealed the restitution order to the Court of Appeals, arguing that, under Miller , the district court could only order him to pay restitution for the broken screen door. A majority of the panel, after disagreeing with the analysis in Miller , affirmed the order with respect to the $250 for the damage to the screen door and the $680 missing from Platt's home and vehicle on February 20, because those damages had a sufficient causal connection to the crime of conviction. The majority also affirmed the order that Futrell pay $500 for the damage to the cell phone, after concluding that Futrell had agreed to pay restitution for damages caused to the phone in the plea agreement. But the majority vacated the order that Futrell pay for the damage to Platt's vehicle and the money missing from his vehicle on January 31 after concluding that the burglary had not caused those damages. Judge Steve Leben, the author of Miller , concurred in part and dissented in part. He agreed that the court could order Futrell to pay for the damage to the...
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