Source: https://www.dailyjournal.com/mcle/271-criminal-law-victim-restitution
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 12:52:39+00:00

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California has enacted one of the country's most sophisticated legal protocols for victim restitution. It is a complex web of constitutional provisions, statutes, and cases, and it even includes official court forms.
For restitution purposes, the term victim is quite broad. It includes any individual who has suffered direct or threatened physical, psychological, or financial harm as the result of criminal activity. (Cal. Const. Art. I, § 28(e).). It includes the person who was injured, as well as any person who has sustained economic loss as a result of the subject crime, including the injured party's parents, grandparents, siblings, spouses, children, and grandchildren. Victim also includes members of the injured person's household (even a fiancé) who witnessed the crime.
The state Penal Code sets a broad standard for the elements to include in a restitution order. The governing statute refers to "all economic losses" (Cal. Penal Code § 1202.4(f)), which include: the value of stolen or damaged property (§ 1202.4(f)(3)(A)); medical expenses (§ 1202.4(f)(3)(B)); mental health counseling expenses (§ 1202.4(f)(3)(C)); lost wages and profits (§ 1202.4(f)(3)(D)(E)); child support to the children of a murder victim (§ 1203.1(j); People v. Clark, 130 Cal. App. 3d 371, 384, (1982) overruled on other grounds in People v. Blakeley, 23 Cal. 4th 82 (2000)); loss of future economic support to surviving spouse caused by murder of a spouse (People v. Giordano, 42 Cal. 4th 644 (2007)); and attorneys fees incurred to: establish the victim's right to restitution (Penal Code § 1202.4(f)(3)(H); preserve the defendant's assets so that they may be available to pay restitution (People v. Lyon, 49 Cal. App. 4th 1521, 1525 (1996)); collect on a restitution order in a civil action; or pursue a civil action against the defendant based on the same facts as the crime (see below).
An example illustrates the point. Assume the plaintiff was injured in a car crash. A law firm is hired on a 40 percent contingency fee. The defendant pleads guilty to driving under the influence. There is a $300,000 civil settlement, composed of half of economic damages (medical bills, therapy, lost wages) and noneconomic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress). The law firm that represented the civil plaintiff will receive $120,000 as its fee (40 percent of the recovery). After receiving the civil settlement, the plaintiff can go to criminal court and seek a restitution order for one-half of the contingent fee ($60,000) as that portion of the attorneys fees related to economic losses. Such an award would be appropriate because the victim had to pay the law firm's fees to get that portion of the civil settlement and is therefore entitled to recoup those fees from the defendant as restitution. The criminal court can order $60,000 restitution in addition to any previously awarded amount, which means that the client's net civil recovery of $180,000 ($300,000 less the 40 percent contingency fee) will increase to $240,000-a significant increase.
Despite the relative informality of restitution hearings, they are in essence mini trials. Depending on the types of losses and the evidence needed to establish them, the hearing may take anywhere from a few minutes to a full day or more.
Defendants facing a restitution order may sometimes skirt their legal obligation to disclose (after all, they are already criminals), in the misguided hope that by silence or obfuscation they can protect their assets. That strategy (to the extent it can even be labeled a strategy) is shortsighted, for an omission when it comes to disclosure can have dire consequences for a defendant on probation.
It must be remembered that probation is a form of judicial leniency that most judges perceive to work as follows: If the defendant plays by the rules, the defendant will remain on probation. But a defendant who fails to disclose may run afoul of the court's indulgence, and if he or she does, it will surely jeopardize probation.
For this reason, the Bernal-Vasquez precedents would appear to be incorrect, at least as they might apply to insurance payments. But a defendant could still receive credit toward restitution for payments independent of liability insurance policy proceeds.
A restitution order is a "money judgment" (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 680.230), and a victim who has been granted restitution is a "judgment creditor." Restitution orders are thus enforceable just the same as a civil judgment. (Cal. Penal Code § 1202.4(i).) This means that all of the typical postjudgment enforcement tools, such as orders of examination and writs of execution, are available to the victim.
Knowing that these remedies are available can't erase the pain of being a crime victim. But properly pursued, they can deliver a measure of monetary compensation to victims who justly deserve it.
Antonio R. Sarabia II practices law in Rolling Hills Estates. He specializes in victim restitution, trademarks, copyrights, contracts, and the apparel business.

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