State v. JP

Decision Date22 May 2003
Docket NumberNo. 72730-9.,72730-9.
Citation69 P.3d 318,149 Wash.2d 444
CourtWashington Supreme Court
PartiesSTATE of Washington, Respondent, v. J.P., b.d. 12-05-85, Petitioner.

Elaine Winters, Washington Appellate Project, Seattle, for Petitioner.

Norm Maleng, King County Prosecutor, Ann Summers, Brian McDonald, Deputy County Prosecutors, for Respondent.

OWENS, J.

Juvenile offender J.P. contends that the Court of Appeals erred in ordering him to make restitution for his assault victim's counseling expenses. J.P. maintains that, because the statutory definition of "restitution" specifies that restitution "shall be limited to... costs of the victim's counseling reasonably related to the offense if the offense is a sex offense," the juvenile court is not permitted to order restitution when, as in his case, the crime is not a sex offense. RCW 13.40.020(22) (emphasis added); see also RCW 13.40.020(25) (defining "sex offense"). The trial court agreed with J.P., but the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the Juvenile Justice Act of 1977(JJA), chapter 13.40 RCW, must be liberally construed in favor of imposing restitution. State v. J.P., 111 Wash.App. 105, 107, 43 P.3d 544 (2002). Because we conclude that the legislature's more recent, more specific provision must be given effect, we must reverse the Court of Appeals decision and reinstate the trial court's order denying restitution.

FACTS

On June 1, 2000, 14-year-old J.P. was charged, pursuant to RCW 9A.36.041, with fourth degree assault with sexual motivation, a gross misdemeanor.1 The charges arose out of an incident occurring on March 9, 2000, involving J.P. and two other uncharged juveniles. J.P. was found guilty at a fact-finding hearing on October 17, 2000, and a disposition order was filed November 17, 2000. The disposition order did not set a restitution hearing, but on January 11, 2001, the State requested a hearing, asking the court to order restitution of $560.74 for the victim's counseling expenses. At the hearing on January 29, 2001, the court denied the State's request for restitution. The court concluded that the statutory definition of "restitution" specifically limited restitution to the "costs of the victim's counseling reasonably related to the offense if the offense is a sex offense." RCW 13.40.020(22) (emphasis added); see Report of Proceedings (RP) at 6. In the court's view, the specific definition "controls the more general language" in RCW 13.40.190(1) that "[r]estitution may include the costs of counseling reasonably related to the offense." RP at 6. On February 13, 2001, the court denied the State's motion for reconsideration:

[O]n the merits, the court concludes that RCW 13.40.020(22) controls here and limits restitution for counseling to sex offenses. RCW 13.40.020(22) is both more specific and was inacted [sic] more recently than the more permissive and more general language in RCW 13.40.190(1). Thus, while the court believes that the victim's emotional injuries were very real and the counseling was necessary, it concludes that the law does not permit recovery in this criminal proceeding.

Clerk's Papers at 27.

The State appealed, and Division One of the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that, "[b]ecause the JJA is to be liberally construed in favor of restitution and the amendment on which the trial court relied was intended to increase penalties for sex offenses rather than limit penalties for other offenses, the trial court should have ordered restitution for counseling in this case." State v. J.P., 111 Wash.App. at 107, 43 P.3d 544.

We granted J.P.'s petition for review.

ISSUE

Did the Court of Appeals properly conclude that a juvenile court has statutory authority to order an offender to pay restitution for the costs of a victim's crime related counseling even if the crime was not a sex offense?

ANALYSIS

Standard of Review. Review of a juvenile court's restitution order is limited to whether statutory authority exists for the imposed restitution. State v. Landrum, 66 Wash.App. 791, 795, 832 P.2d 1359 (1992). J.P. contends that the Court of Appeals erroneously concluded that RCW 13.40.190(1) permits a juvenile court to impose restitution for a victim's crime related counseling when the crime was not a sex offense. The interpretation of a statute is a question of law and is therefore reviewed de novo. State v. Schultz, 146 Wash.2d 540, 544, 48 P.3d 301 (2002).

Principles of Statutory Interpretation. Our primary duty in interpreting any statute is to discern and implement the intent of the legislature. Nat'l Elec. Contractors Ass'n v. Riveland, 138 Wash.2d 9, 19, 978 P.2d 481 (1999). Our starting point must always be "the statute's plain language and ordinary meaning." Id. When the plain language is unambiguous—that is, when the statutory language admits of only one meaning—the legislative intent is apparent, and we will not construe the statute otherwise. State v. Wilson, 125 Wash.2d 212, 217, 883 P.2d 320 (1994). Just as we "cannot add words or clauses to an unambiguous statute when the legislature has chosen not to include that language," State v. Delgado, 148 Wash.2d 723, 727, 63 P.3d 792 (2003), we may not delete language from an unambiguous statute: "`Statutes must be interpreted and construed so that all the language used is given effect, with no portion rendered meaningless or superfluous.'" Davis v. Dep't of Licensing, 137 Wash.2d 957, 963, 977 P.2d 554 (1999) (quoting Whatcom County v. City of Bellingham, 128 Wash.2d 537, 546, 909 P.2d 1303 (1996)). The plain meaning of a statute may be discerned "from all that the Legislature has said in the statute and related statutes which disclose legislative intent about the provision in question." Dep't of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, L.L.C., 146 Wash.2d 1, 11, 43 P.3d 4 (2002); State v. Clausing, 147 Wash.2d 620, 630, 56 P.3d 550 (2002) (Owens, J., dissenting) (noting that "[a]pplication of the statutory definitions to the terms of art in a statute is essential to discerning the plain meaning of the statute"). Where we are called upon to interpret an ambiguous statute or conflicting provisions, we may arrive at the legislature's intent by applying recognized principles of statutory construction. A kind of stopgap principle is that, in construing a statute, "a reading that results in absurd results must be avoided because it will not be presumed that the legislature intended absurd results." Delgado, 148 Wash.2d at 733, 63 P.3d 792 (Madsen, J., dissenting) (citing, among other cases, State v. Vela, 100 Wash.2d 636, 641, 673 P.2d 185 (1983)).

Statutory Provisions at Issue. RCW 13.40.190(1) provides in its opening sentence that, "[i]n its dispositional order, the court shall require the respondent to make restitution to any persons who have suffered loss or damage as a result of the offense committed by the respondent." (Emphasis added.) The breadth of that statement was narrowed in the statutory definition of "restitution," which identified the types of economic loss for which restitution could be ordered:

"Restitution" means financial reimbursement by the offender to the victim, and shall be limited to easily ascertainable damages for injury to or loss of property, actual expenses incurred for medical treatment for physical injury to persons, and lost wages resulting from physical injury. Restitution shall not include reimbursement for damages for mental anguish, pain and suffering, or other intangible losses. Nothing in this chapter shall limit or replace civil remedies or defenses available to the victim or offender.

Former RCW 13.40.020(17) (1977) (emphasis added). In 1987, the legislature inserted the following sentence into the provision describing the dispositional order: "Restitution may include the costs of counseling reasonably related to the offense." Laws of 1987, ch. 281, § 5(1) (emphasis added); RCW 13.40.190(1). When the legislature added this statement to RCW 13.40.190(1), permitting the court to order restitution for counseling costs, the legislature nevertheless left unchanged the definition of "restitution," which specifically "limited" reimbursement to the "easily ascertainable" costs for property damage, medical expenses for physical injury, and lost wages for physical injury—three categories that simply do not encompass counseling costs. Former RCW 13.40.020(17).

In its 1992 Landrum decision, Division One of the Court of Appeals recognized that the amendment to RCW 13.40.190(1) conflicted with the definition of "restitution" in former RCW 13.40.020(17). 66 Wash.App. at 795-96, 832 P.2d 1359. The Landrum court (which necessarily focused on the pre-1990 definition since the offenses had occurred in 1989) then applied two canons of statutory construction to resolve the conflict: (1) "the statutory provision that appears latest in order of position prevails unless the first provision is more clear and explicit than the last," and (2) "the latest enacted provision prevails when it is more specific than its predecessor." Id. at 796-97, 832 P.2d 1359 (citing State ex rel. Graham v. San Juan County, 102 Wash.2d 311, 320, 686 P.2d 1073 (1984); Citizens for Clean Air v. City of Spokane, 114 Wash.2d 20, 37, 785 P.2d 447 (1990)). The court observed that the amendment permitting restitution for counseling was later in position (i.e., because RCW 13.40.190 comes after RCW 13.40.020) and was "clear and specific as to counseling"; moreover, as the court noted, the 1987 amendment to RCW 13.40.190(1) had occurred later in time than the 1977 enactment of the definition. Landrum, 66 Wash.App. at 797, 832 P.2d 1359. The Landrum court thus gave effect to the 1987 amendment to RCW 13.40.190(1), even though the definition section in effect in 1987 limited restitution to three categories of expenses, none of which included psychological counseling.2

In 1990, the legislature did amend the "restitution" definition, adding to the existing three...

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