Opinion ID: 2539186
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Court of Appeals Published Gamble v. Commonwealth.

Text: A third panel of the Court of Appeals rendered a published opinion in Gamble v. Commonwealth , [9] which dealt with a probation revocation for failure to pay child support. Unlike the two cases before us today, the probationer refused to testify at the revocation hearing to explain his nonpayment, contending he had a Fifth Amendment right not to testify. [10] The Gamble panel accepted the argument that payment of child support arrearages was restitution. [11] The panel also accepted that Bearden and Clayborn generally required the trial court to inquire into the reasons for nonpayment and consider alternatives to imprisonment if the probationer had made sufficient bona fide efforts to make payments but was unable to pay through no fault of his own. [12] But the panel rejected Gamble's argument that he had a Fifth Amendment right not to testify at the probation revocation hearing concerning his reasons for nonpayment of child support. [13] Because Gamble's refusal to testify prevented the trial court from hearing Gamble's explanation for nonpayment, the Court of Appeals ultimately determined that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in revoking probation. [14] Despite Gamble's argument that due process required that the trial court make findings identifying the reason for revocation, the panel concluded that the reason for revocation (nonpayment of child support) was so clear from the record that Gamble's due process rights were not violated. [15]