State v. Patterson
| Decision Date | 13 January 2023 |
| Docket Number | 21-0672 |
| Citation | 984 N.W.2d 449 |
| Parties | STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Royriguez PATTERSON, Appellant. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Martha J. Lucey (argued), State Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Martha E. Trout (argued), Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Here we consider the proper forms of review for restitution orders. Royriguez Patterson appeals a restitution order that was cross-filed in a felony case (Case No. OWOM088283) and a dismissed misdemeanor case (Case No. NTA0948898). In the dismissed misdemeanor case, we decline to grant review. In the felony case, we grant certiorari review; we conclude the restitution order is not illegal; and, therefore, we annul the writ of certiorari.
This case arises from a collision on Interstate 235 in Des Moines. On February 12, 2020, a vehicle driven by Patterson rear-ended a vehicle driven by James Tidwell. Tidwell suffered serious injuries. His vehicle sustained substantial damage.
On the same day, the State charged Patterson with failure to maintain control, a simple misdemeanor, in violation of Iowa Code section 321.288(1) (2020). This charge was assigned case number NTA0948898.
On March 20, the State also charged Patterson in a three-count trial information as follows:
This felony case was assigned case number OWOM088283.
In October, Patterson reached a plea deal with the State. Patterson filed a petition to plead guilty to count II, serious injury by vehicle (reckless). Through his petition, Patterson admitted that "[o]n 2/12/2020 in Polk County, Iowa, [he] unintentionally caused serious injury including a broken leg
to James Tidwell by willfully driving in a manner that was with wanton disregard for the safety of others and in the process rear-ended Mr. Tidwell's vehicle." And Patterson advised the court that in exchange for his plea to count II, the State had agreed that "[c]ounts I and III and companion citation NTA0948898" should be "dismissed at Defendant's cost."
The court accepted Patterson's plea. In December, the court sentenced Patterson. Consistent with the parties’ agreement, the court adjudged Patterson guilty of count II. The court sentenced Patterson to prison but suspended his sentence and ordered probation. The court also ordered Patterson "to pay" victim pecuniary damages (VPD) "in the amount of $TBD for the costs inflicted on the victim(s) of this crime." In the same paragraph, the court noted that "[i]f the amounts of VPD are not available at the time of sentencing, a supplemental order will follow." In a separate paragraph entitled "DISMISSAL OF OTHER COUNTS AND CASES," the court dismissed counts I and III as well as the misdemeanor case but still ordered Patterson "to pay court costs and any victim restitution associated with these counts and/or cases."
In February 2021, the State filed a motion to amend Patterson's sentence to include restitution. The State asked for $42,100.92, consisting of $34,512.93 for Tidwell's lost wages and the remainder for car damage. The same day, the district court granted the State's motion and ordered Patterson to pay $42,100.92 in VPD. The order also said that "[i]f Defendant contests the victim pecuniary damages amount ordered herein, Defendant must request a hearing within 30 days."
Patterson requested a hearing, and the court obliged. Tidwell testified about the accident and his resulting injuries—a broken humerus
, dislocated left shoulder, dislocated right hip, fractured acetabulum (hip socket), fractured L4–L5 vertebrae, and a spleen injury. He was in the hospital for nineteen days, in a wheelchair for four months, and had been doing physical therapy. He explained that, based on what he had been told, it would take eighteen to twenty-four months for him to recover from the hip injury.
Tidwell also testified that he had not been able to work at all since the accident. Indeed, he still struggled to walk.
For the past sixteen years, though, he had worked a "very physical" job in concrete leveling. In 2019—the year before the accident—Tidwell had worked for A1 Concrete Leveling. The State introduced his 2019 W-2. It showed 2019 earnings of $34,512.93. Plus, Tidwell testified, he had made "6 to 7,000" dollars more through a side job. He had received a 1099 but had lost it during a move.
The State also introduced a 1099-G form. It showed that Tidwell had received an additional $6,600 in unemployment in 2019. Tidwell explained that due to the seasonal nature of concrete work, he was typically unemployed between November and April. Consistent with this pattern, Tidwell was laid off in November 2019.
As for 2020, Tidwell explained that he had received $6,000 from the attorney general's office because of the collision. He also received COVID-19 stimulus payments. And up until a few weeks before the collision, he was still receiving unemployment benefits from his 2019 layoff.
Tidwell also testified that, but for the accident, he would have worked as a union journeyman in 2020. He believed that—even with COVID—he would have earned more in 2020 than in 2019.
Following the hearing, the court entered an order on restitution. The court concluded that the State had not proven the claimed restitution amounts for the car "by a preponderance of the evidence." "From the testimony presented, it appear[ed]" to the court that "the damage to the vehicle was covered" by a finance company.
Conversely, the court concluded that the State had proven "restitution for lost wages by a preponderance of the evidence." The court expressly found Tidwell's testimony to be "credible." And the court believed that Tidwell's "2019 W-2 wages are sufficient evidence of his lost wages for the year 2020, which he was unable to earn because of" Patterson's "actions." Also, although Tidwell received $6,000 from the attorney general's office in 2020, this payment "would not fully offset the seasonal unemployment benefits" that Tidwell "annually received."
So the court ordered Patterson to pay restitution in the amount of $34,512.93—the amount shown on Tidwell's 2019 W-2. The order was cross-filed in both the felony case and the dismissed misdemeanor case.
Patterson filed notices of appeal in both cases. Our court then entered an order questioning whether we had jurisdiction in the misdemeanor case. We directed Patterson to "file a statement regarding whether an appeal is allowed as a matter of right in [the misdemeanor case], or whether some other form of appellate review is appropriate and being sought."
In his responsive filing, Patterson addressed the court's jurisdiction in both cases. For the felony case, Patterson claimed a right of appeal. For the misdemeanor case, Patterson asked the court to treat his notice of appeal as an "application for discretionary review and/or petition for writ of certiorari." The State resisted, and Patterson replied. Our court then ordered the jurisdictional issue to be submitted with the appeal. Our order instructed:
The parties are directed to brief the issue of whether an application for discretionary review or a petition for writ of certiorari should be granted in [the misdemeanor case]. The parties are further directed to address whether the appellant has a right of appeal from the restitution order entered in [the felony case], or whether some other form of review is appropriate.
The parties complied with this order. And counsel provided additional insights at oral argument.
Patterson's brief presents three arguments. First, he argues that we should grant discretionary or certiorari review in the misdemeanor case. Second, as to the felony case, Patterson claims that (1) he has a statutory right to appeal; (2) alternatively, even if he has no statutory right, equal protection and due process require us to permit his appeal anyway; and (3) if we conclude that he has no right to appeal, we should nevertheless grant certiorari review. Finally, as to the merits, Patterson argues that the restitution award lacks substantial evidentiary support. We address each issue in turn.
A. Review of Restitution Order in The Dismissed Misdemeanor Case. Patterson begins by asking us to reverse the restitution order in the misdemeanor case. Patterson concedes, though, that he has no right of appeal from a simple misdemeanor. See Iowa Code § 814.6(1)(a )(1). Instead, he suggests that we should grant certiorari review or discretionary review. Patterson emphasizes that "[e]ntry of a restitution judgment in dismissed cases is a widespread on-going practice in criminal law." And so, the question of whether restitution judgments can be entered in dismissed cases is "important to the judiciary and the profession." Id. § 814.6(2)(e ).
We assume without deciding that Patterson has posed an important question. But this case is a poor vehicle for answering it. "[T]raditional notions of judicial restraint" counsel us to avoid answering important questions "without the benefit of meaningful adversarial briefing." State v. Young , 863 N.W.2d 249, 283 (Iowa 2015) (Mansfield, J., concurring specially). And when it comes to the misdemeanor case, we don't even have adversaries , much less adversarial briefing. Patterson contends that the restitution order cannot be enforced in the misdemeanor case—and the State doesn't disagree. In fact, the State claims that restitution was "not [actually] ordered" in the misdemeanor case.4 Our review supports this view.
Accordingly, we decline to address the hypothetical question of whether it is proper to order restitution in a dismissed case, misdemeanor or otherwise. We save...
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