Teggatz v. Ringleb

• Citation: 610 N.W.2d 527
• Decision Date: 26 April 2000
• Docket Number: No. 98-1149.,98-1149.
• Parties: Tom TEGGATZ, Appellant, v. Joseph RINGLEB, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

610 N.W.2d 527

Tom TEGGATZ, Appellant, v. Joseph RINGLEB, Appellee.

No. 98-1149.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

April 26, 2000.

Raymond P. Drew of Drew Law Firm, P.C., Hampton, for appellant.

James Beres of Sween & Beres, P.C., Eldora, for appellee.

Considered en banc.

McGIVERIN, Chief Justice.

Plaintiff, Tom Teggatz, appeals a decision of the district court dismissing his petition against his former employee, defendant Joseph Ringleb, in which Teggatz sought to recover a judgment for money Ringleb stole while an employee of Teggatz. The district court concluded that the amount of restitution ordered in a related criminal theft prosecution against Ringleb, see Iowa Code § 910.2 (1997), precluded Teggatz from recovering additional damages from Ringleb in the later civil action.

Upon our review, we conclude that the amount of restitution ordered in the criminal case against Ringleb does not preclude plaintiff Teggatz from relitigating, in a later civil suit, the amount of damages he allegedly sustained as a result of Ringleb's criminal conduct. Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the district court and remand for further proceedings.

I. Background facts and proceedings.

Plaintiff Tom Teggatz operates a car wash and laundromat in Hampton, Iowa. Defendant Joseph Ringleb was employed at Teggatz's business until April 1997 when he was terminated after Teggatz discovered that Ringleb had been stealing quarters from the car wash and laundromat business. During a related criminal investigation, law enforcement officers learned that on several occasions, Ringleb had taken large amounts of quarters to several banks in the area to receive currency, often in the form of $100 bills. Law enforcement officers also found $13,948 in quarters and $9,600 in bills in Ringleb's apartment.

Ringleb later pled guilty in a district court criminal case to second-degree theft, a class "D" felony, see Iowa Code §§ 714.1(1) and 714.2(2), concerning charges related to his theft of money from Teggatz.

After an evidentiary hearing in the criminal case, the court entered a ruling ordering Ringleb to make restitution to Teggatz in the amount of $22,261.56, as that was the amount of loss the criminal court found that Teggatz suffered as a direct result of Ringleb's criminal activity. The court also imposed a suspended prison sentence on Ringleb.

In addition, Teggatz filed a civil case petition at law against Ringleb in district court, seeking judgment for all the money Ringleb stole from him. Teggatz's civil action proceeded to trial. Teggatz presented evidence that numerous people in the community had informed him that since the date of Ringleb's conviction in the criminal case, Ringleb had been purchasing merchandise with a substantial amount of quarters. Based on this information, Teggatz contended that by reason of Ringleb's access to Teggatz's candy and vending machines during his employment, Ringleb stole at least another $5000 from Teggatz's business in addition to that determined by the criminal court in the restitution order. It is undisputed that plaintiff Teggatz has now received the $22,261.56 of restitution that was ordered by the criminal court.

The court in the present civil case concluded that the court in the criminal restitution case previously determined the amount of damages sustained by Teggatz as a result of Ringleb's criminal conduct and that the doctrine of issue preclusion therefore prevented Teggatz from recovering judgment for any additional amount from Ringleb in the civil suit. The court dismissed Teggatz's petition and entered judgment in favor of Ringleb. After the district court overruled his Iowa rule of civil procedure 179(b) motion, plaintiff Teggatz appealed.

II. Standard of review.

Our standard of review in this case is for correction of errors at law. See Iowa R.App. P. 4.

III. Plaintiff's civil claim for damages.

A. The district court's decision.

The criminal court concluded that $22,261.56 represented the amount of damages Teggatz suffered as a direct result of Ringleb's criminal conduct and ordered Ringleb to pay that amount to Teggatz as restitution. In ruling on Teggatz's present civil action against Ringleb, the district court sua sponte concluded that the criminal court's restitution order conclusively determined the amount of damages Teggatz sustained and therefore the doctrine of issue preclusion prevented Teggatz from recovering an additional judgment against Ringleb. In essence, the court concluded that the amount of restitution ordered in the criminal case precluded Teggatz from relitigating in the civil case the amount of damages he sustained as a result of Ringleb's criminal conduct.

On appeal, plaintiff Teggatz contends that under a plain reading of Iowa Code section 910.8, the district court erred in concluding that the doctrine of issue preclusion barred his right to recover additional damages in a later civil action against defendant Ringleb. Upon our review, we agree with Teggatz's contentions.

B. Analysis.

1. We begin our analysis by examining the relevant provisions of Iowa Code chapter 910 concerning restitution. The legislature has decided that restitution shall be ordered in all criminal cases in which the defendant pleads guilty or is found guilty. See Iowa Code § 910.2; State v. Watts, 587 N.W.2d 750, 751 (Iowa 1998). We have explained that the purpose of the restitution statute is to protect the public by compensating victims of criminal activities and to rehabilitate criminal defendants. Speer v. Blumer, 483 N.W.2d 599, 601 (Iowa 1992); accord State v. Blakley, 534 N.W.2d 645, 648 (Iowa 1995)

.

Pursuant to Iowa Code section 910.1(4), restitution may include "payment of pecuniary damages to a victim in an amount and in the manner provided by the offender's plan of restitution." Iowa Code § 910.1(4). "Pecuniary damages" are defined as follows:

. . . all damages to the extent not paid by an insurer, which a victim could recover against the offender in a civil action arising out of the same facts or event, except punitive damages and damages for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and loss of consortium. Without limitation, "pecuniary damages" includes damages for wrongful death and expenses incurred for psychiatric or psychological services or counseling or other counseling for the victim which became necessary as a direct result of the criminal activity.

Iowa Code § 910.1(3) (emphasis added).

We have said that the amount of restitution ordered in a criminal prosecution is not limited by the parameters of the offense for which the defendant enters a guilty plea. Watts, 587 N.W.2d at 751 (rejecting defendant's claim that dollar amount of the offense—$10,000 for second-degree theft—presumptively limits the amount of restitution that may be ordered); accord Earnest v. State, 508 N.W.2d 630, 633 (Iowa 1993)

; State v. Holmberg, 449 N.W.2d 376, 377 (Iowa 1989). Additionally, we have held that a validly entered and accepted guilty plea precludes a criminal defendant from relitigating essential elements of the criminal offense in a later civil case. See Ideal Mut. Ins. Co. v. Winker, 319 N.W.2d 289, 296-97 (Iowa 1982); accord AID Ins. Co. (Mut.) v. Chrest, 336 N.W.2d 437, 439 (Iowa 1983) (stating that entry of guilty "plea precludes relitigation in a subsequent civil action of all issues necessarily determined by the conviction") (emphasis added). We did not say in Winker, however, that the criminal restitution order precludes a victim from relitigating, in a later civil case, the amount of damages sustained by the victim as a result of the defendant's criminal conduct. Therefore, it was proper for Teggatz to offer into evidence in the civil case, Ringleb's criminal case file for purposes of establishing the elements of his civil action against Ringleb for money damages, but doing so did not preclude Teggatz from relitigating the issue of damages in the civil case.

2. Through enactment of Iowa Code section 910.8, the legislature has stated therein that an order requiring payment of restitution by a criminal defendant does "not limit or impair the rights of victims to sue and recover damages from the offender in a civil action." (Emphasis added.) Iowa Code section 910.8 further states:

The institution of a restitution plan shall toll the applicable statute of limitations for a civil action arising out of the same facts or event for the period of time that the restitution plan is effective. However, any restitution payment by the offender to a victim shall be set off against any judgment in favor of the victim in a civil action arising out of the same facts or event.

(Emphasis added.) It is this section of chapter 910 that we must interpret.

Certain rules provide guidance in determining the meaning of a statute. For instance, if the terms of the statute are explicit, the plain meaning of the language will be applied. State v. Jackson, 601 N.W.2d 354, 356 (Iowa 1999); see also Drahaus v. State, 584 N.W.2d 270, 274 (Iowa 1998)

(when text of statute is plain and its meaning clear, court will not search for meaning beyond express terms of statute or resort to rules of statutory construction). In such cases, we will simply give effect to the statute as written. Drahaus, 584 N.W.2d at 274.

Upon our review, we believe that the district court's conclusion, that Teggatz's civil claim against Ringleb is barred by issue preclusion, conflicts with both the specific language and the purpose of Iowa Code section 910.8. We are convinced that the language of section 910.8, that "proceedings under [chapter 910] do not limit or impair the rights of victims to sue and recover damages from the offender in a civil action," is clear and unambiguous. We thus need look no further than a plain reading of the language of section 910.8 to determine that the amount of restitution ordered in the criminal case does not preclude Teggatz from religitating the issue of damages in his present...