Opinion ID: 2629689
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: restitution in excess of fair market value

Text: Hunziker's first assertion is that the district court erred by requiring him to pay a total restitution amount in excess of the market value of the damaged property. A sentencing court has substantial discretion when ordering the amount of restitution. [Citation omitted.] Moreover, the method of determining the amount of restitution is a matter within the discretion of the trial court. [Citation omitted.] Casto, 22 Kan. App.2d at 153. Judicial discretion is abused when judicial action is arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable, which is another way of saying that discretion is abused only when no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court. Applegate, 266 Kan. at 1079, citing State v. Davidson, 264 Kan. 44, 56, 954 P.2d 702 (1998), and Saucedo v. Winger, 252 Kan. 718, 850 P.2d 908 (1993). Hunziker argues that under Casto, 22 Kan. App.2d at 154, a victim of a property crime is entitled to restitution only up to the amount of his or her loss. Hunziker states that the total restitution to Van Loenen should not have exceeded $8,750, the fair market value of the tractor determined at the restitution hearing. Judge Green, writing on behalf of the Court of Appeals, observed: Hunziker does not contest the reasonableness of the amount that the trial court ordered for each type of damage. Rather, he argues that only the physical damage to the property can be ordered as restitution under K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 21-4610(d)(1). According to Hunziker, the trial court abused its discretion by awarding restitution for the other damages. Hunziker, 30 Kan. App.2d at 281. The State argues that Hunziker reads Casto too narrowly and asserts that the Applegate decision held that, under 21-4610(d)(1), the measure of restitution or reparation to be ordered is the amount that reimburses the victim for the actual loss suffered. 266 Kan. at 1079. According to the State, Van Loenen suffered additional loss beyond the value of his tractor, and neither statutory nor case law limits his recovery to a single item. K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 21-4610(d)(1) states, in pertinent part: In addition to any other conditions of probation, suspension of sentence or assignment to a community correctional services program, the court shall order the defendant to comply with each of the following conditions: (1) Make reparation or restitution to the aggrieved party for the damage or loss caused by the defendant's crime, in an amount and manner determined by the court and to the person specified by the court, unless the court finds compelling circumstances which would render a plan of restitution unworkable. In addition to ordering restitution for the market value of the backhoe, the district court ordered Hunziker to pay restitution to Van Loenen for hired work, towing expenses, mileage, touch-up paint, lost work, interest, and Van Loenen's private attorney fees. As the Court of Appeals noted, Hunziker did not dispute the district court's authority to order restitution for towing expenses, mileage, or hired work; thus, he cannot challenge the district court's authority to do so for the first time on appeal. Hunziker, 30 Kan. App.2d at 282. Issues not raised before the trial court cannot be raised on appeal. State v. Crume, 271 Kan. 87, 98, 22 P.3d 1057 (2001). In addition, the Court of Appeals found that Hunziker had abandoned his challenge concerning the propriety of interest charges on appeal and, therefore, upheld the district court's award of interest. Hunziker, 30 Kan. App.2d at 283. Further, the Court of Appeals upheld the district court's award of restitution to Van Loenen for lost work, finding that an award to compensate a victim for lost work was analogous to restitution orders for an employee's lost wages. Hunziker, 30 Kan. App.2d at 283. The Court of Appeals based its decision on State v. Beechum, 251 Kan. 194, 202-03, 833 P.2d 988 (1992), where this court upheld the trial court's order of restitution for airfare to transport a murder victim's 12-year-old son to New York and wages lost by the boy's father so that he could take custody of his son. Hunziker, 30 Kan. App.2d at 283. Before this court, Hunziker presents no opposition to the Court of Appeals' decision upholding the district court's award of restitution for lost work. Neither does Hunziker challenge the Court of Appeals' determination that he abandoned his objection to the district court's imposition of interest. This court need not consider issues that are not presented in an appellant's petition for review or fairly included therein. Supreme Court Rule 8.03(a)(5)(c) (2001 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 56). Hunziker did, however, challenge the propriety of restitution damages for touch-up paint, lost work, and attorney fees before the district court. First, we will address the propriety of the restitution order for lost work and touch-up paint, and then consider the award of restitution for attorney fees. On appeal, in Hunziker, the Court of Appeals held that the touch-up paint expense in the amount of $21.97 was improper under Casto and found: In support of his argument, Hunziker cites Casto, 22 Kan. App.2d 152. In Casto, the defendant damaged the victim's tractor and challenged the trial court's computation of the amount of restitution. [The Court of Appeals] reversed the trial court's restitution order because it failed to consider the value of the tractor after the repairs were made and gave two methods to determine the amount of restitution. It then stated that under either method, `the restitution amount should not exceed the reasonable market value of the tractor immediately before the damage.' 22 Kan. App.2d at 154. Clearly, Casto addresses only the computation method for physical damage to property and is not about limitations on the different types of damages a trial court may order as a part of restitution. Hunziker, 30 Kan. App.2d at 282. The Casto court wrote: We find no Kansas case which provides a formula for determining restitution in criminal cases. Although the rigidness and proof of value that lies in a civil damage suit does not apply in a criminal case, the court's determination of restitution must be based on reliable evidence which yields a defensible restitution figure. A victim of a property crime is entitled to restitution only up to the amount of his or her loss. [Citation omitted.] 22 Kan. App.2d at 154. The Casto court based its decision in part on State v. Hinckley, 13 Kan. App.2d 417, 419, 777 P.2d 857 (1989). There, defendant Hinckley pled nolo contendere to two counts each of burglary and felony theft but later appealed the amount of restitution. The State had offered evidence of the replacement value of the stolen property rather than the actual value of the property at the time it was stolen. In Hinckley, the Court of Appeals reversed the sentencing court's restitution order because the sum ordered clearly requires the defendant to pay a sum of money in excess of the amount of damage his criminal conduct caused the victim. 13 Kan. App.2d at 419. In Applegate, the State appealed the district court's finding that a settlement in a civil suit fulfilled the defendant's criminal restitution obligation. There, we noted: Restitution is not merely victim compensation but also serves the functions of deterrence and rehabilitation of the guilty. State v. Hinckley, 13 Kan. App.2d 417, 419, 777 P.2d 857 (1989). Restitution imposed as a condition of probation is not a legal obligation equivalent to a civil judgment, but rather an option which may be voluntarily exercised by the defendant to avoid serving an active sentence. [Citations omitted.] The sentencing judge has considerable discretion in determining the amount of restitution, but the court must, pursuant to K.S.A. 21-4610(d)(1), order restitution for the offense of conviction. [Citation omitted.] 266 Kan. at 1075. In Applegate, this court reviewed the Arizona case of State v. Iniguez, 169 Ariz. 533, 821 P.2d 194 (1991). In Iniguez, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the trial court's determination that the Arizona restitution statutes should fully compensate the victim for economic loss but should not bestow a windfall on the victim. 169 Ariz. at 537. `Because a primary purpose of restitution is to make the victim whole, and the other aim of restitution is rehabilitative rather than punitive, payment beyond that necessary to compensate does not serve the Legislature's purposes.' 169 Ariz. at 537. Applegate, 266 Kan. at 1076-77. The measure of reparation or restitution to be ordered, pursuant to K.S.A. 21-4610(d)(1), is the amount that reimburses the victim for the actual loss suffered. 266 Kan. at 1079. In Applegate, this court concluded that the district judge had not abused his discretion in finding that the civil settlement satisfied defendant's restitution requirement. 266 Kan. at 1080. We find no indication in K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 21-4610(d)(1) or in Kansas case law that an aggrieved party is limited to recovering restitution solely for damaged property. There is no language in K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 21-4610(d)(1) limiting restitution solely to property damage or property loss. When granting probation, a court is required to order restitution for damage or loss caused by the defendant's crime. K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 21-4610(d)(1). Thus, the district court did not err by directing Hunziker to pay restitution for losses caused by his crime in addition to the physical damage to the backhoe tractor. However, the Hunziker panel correctly found that, since the district court ordered restitution for the fair market value of the backhoe, the touch-up paint expense should not have been compensated. The district court's award of $21.97 for touch-up paint for the backhoe was in excess of the fair market value of the backhoe and, thus, exceeded the total loss incurred by Van Loenen for that piece of equipment.