Opinion ID: 1120830
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: judgment and sentence for costs and restitution

Text: We are faced with an additional problem regarding the sentence which was entered. [2] Seaton's sentence provided for penitentiary confinement for a period of not less than three years nor more than five years which was suspended for a period of five years probation, with probation to include the following terms: 6. The Defendant shall maintain full time employment and pay just debts; 7. The Defendant shall make complete restitution to the victim(s), in the amount of $3,000.00, as reflected in the Presentence Investigation Report, for any items not returned or damage done as a result of this offense; 8. The Defendant shall repay the State of Wyoming, Public Defender's Office, for all expenses and services provided by [her] appointed attorney, Bernard Q. Phelan, in the amount of $1,799.45, pursuant to the State of Wyoming Public Defender's standard fee schedule, as required by W.S. 7-6-106(d), 1977 Republished Edition; 9. The Defendant shall repay the State of Wyoming, District Attorney's Office, for all expenses incurred as to the cost of prosecution, such amount to be $2,244.68, pursuant to the State of Wyoming District Attorney's standard fee schedule, as required by W.S. 7-11-516, 1977 Republished Edition; 10. The Defendant shall pay to the Victim's Compensation Fund, as required by W.S. 1-40-119(a), 1977 Republished Edition, the total sum of $1,500.00 by cash, certified check or money order payable to the Clerk of the District Court, Third Floor, County Building, Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Defendant shall be required to pay the amount of $50.00 within ten (10) days from the date first appearing on this Order. The remaining balance of $1,450.00 shall be paid according to condition eleven (11) of this Order; 11. The defendant shall pay all of the above restitution amounts, as to conditions seven (7), eight (8), nine (9) and ten (10), according to a plan to be prepared by the Department of Probation and Parole. This restitution plan shall have all amounts due and owing paid within her probationary period.
This record reveals a 40-year-old unemployed divorced female with a 15-year-old son. According to the last entry of the record which post dates entry of the sentence, she had lost her house, her car and had sold most of her furniture to live and was without real income and trying to get public assistance for subsistence funds. Medical expenses were unpaid as were other bills and expenses. She had stated at sentencing that she could try to pay $50.00 a month for restitution. She had also stated to the probation officer that she expected to develop an income of $20,000.00 a year in the business of restoration of antiques. Restitution was clearly appropriate and the question presented is whether sufficient proof of the amount or the capacity to pay is demonstrated. This court can find a realistically established basis in the record to approve the restitution requirement without any additional assessment of capacity to pay at this time. W.S. 7-9-103 provides: (a) If the court requires restitution of a defendant, then at the time of sentencing it shall fix a reasonable amount as restitution owed to each victim for actual pecuniary damage resulting from the defendant's criminal activity, and shall include its determination of the pecuniary damage as a special finding in the judgment of conviction. (b) To satisfy the order, the clerk, upon request of the victim or the district attorney, may issue execution against the defendant for any assets including wages subject to attachment in the same manner as in a civil action. (c) The court's determination of the amount of restitution owed under this section is not admissible as evidence in any civil action. The statutory system requires the preparation of a plan through W.S. 7-9-104 and whatever may have occurred by this date is not included in this record. The last event revealed by the record regarding the payment plan was entry of the judgment and sentence. We find sufficient, even though perhaps minimal, compliance with the special finding requirement of W.S. 7-9-103 and, absent statutory requirement at the time of sentencing for the district court to determine ability to pay, we affirm the restitution requirement. Enforcement of restitution after the sentence under the Wyoming statute becomes an executory proceeding from which further hearings may be held and a subsequent right of appeal created. Those issues are not presented by this record. See W.S. 7-9-104 through 7-9-110. Obviously, the convicted person cannot be subjected to revocation of probation for non-compliance with restitution unless, in accord with the statutes, a plan has been developed which demonstrates the required criteria including capacity to pay. In the absence of capacity to pay with reasonable effort made, imprisonment for debt occurs in contravention of Wyoming Const. art. 1, § 5.
The $1,500.00 assessment in the provision of paragraph 10 of the judgment and sentence causes our greater concern. W.S. 1-40-119 provides: (a) In addition to any fine or other penalty prescribed by law, a defendant who pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or is convicted of, the following criminal offenses shall be assessed a surcharge of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00): [Designated offenses] (b) The surcharge enumerated in subsection (a) of this section shall be imposed upon any defendant for whom prosecution, trial or sentence is deferred under W.S. 7-13-301 and 7-13-302 or who participates in any other diversion agreement. (c) Under no circumstances shall a court fail to impose the surcharge required by subsections (a) and (b) of this section. (d) The surcharge shall be paid within ten (10) days of imposition. Failure to comply is punishable as contempt of court. Contempt proceedings or other proceedings to collect the surcharge may be initiated by the prosecuting attorney or by the court on its own motion. (e) Monies paid to the court by a defendant shall be applied to the surcharge before being applied to any fine, penalty, cost or assessment imposed upon the defendant. The proceeds from the surcharge imposed by this section shall be remitted promptly by the clerk of the court to the commission for deposit in the account. In seeking an appropriate and realistic application of the statute, we would recognize its provisions were intended by the legislature to be mandatory in both assessment and payment. We will confine our analysis for this decision to the judgment and sentence presented in this case and await briefing and oral argument in future cases to address any broader issue of the possible assessment of statutorily unlimited amounts to be deposited as a state funding mechanism. Here, we only address the statutorily limited time for payment provided in W.S. 1-40-119(d) of ten days. The vice of that portion of the judgment and sentence in this case is the provision for the payment of $1,450 later than ten days of imposition according to a plan to be prepared by the Department of Probation and Parole. Subsection (d) of the statute contains no provision vesting discretion in the sentencing court with respect to extending the time for payment of this surcharge. Since the district court, in this instance, must have determined that Seaton could pay no more than $50 within the ten day period, we would find the balance of $1,450 to be thereafter paid according to an executive agency plan to constitute an unlawful imposition and statutorily unauthorized surplusage. Wyo. Const. art. 1, § 14. Courts can only impose those sentences authorized by the legislature. Williams v. State, 692 P.2d 233 (Wyo. 1984); Sorenson v. State, 604 P.2d 1031 (Wyo. 1979).
The sentence then leaves remaining provisions for cost of prosecution and repayment of expenses and services of the public defender. We will first address in this section the cost of prosecution. The judgment and sentence cited W.S. 7-11-516 (1977 Republished Edition) as statutory authority for assessment. That section of the statute no longer exists and, in the context of the change, the provision was amended by 1987 Wyo. Sess. Laws, ch. 126 to add felonies to its cost assessment provision theretofore applying only to misdemeanors. The statute then emplaced and now in existence has neither provided for a schedule nor assessment of anything except the normal losing litigant's cost. Kaess v. State, 748 P.2d 698 (Wyo. 1987). This would not include institutional costs. Johnson v. State, 532 P.2d 598 (Wyo. 1975); Arnold v. State, 76 Wyo. 445, 306 P.2d 368 (1957). The only difference in application of the present W.S. 7-11-505, which replaced W.S. 7-11-516, when applied and defined in Kaess, is a statutory change to add felonies to the previously provided misdemeanor coverage. The present statute provides: Payment of the costs of prosecution may be added to and made a part of the sentence in any felony or misdemeanor case. W.S. 7-11-505. In Kaess in identifying the scope of the statute, we stated: Cursory consideration of the misdemeanor [and now felony] cost assessment statute was given in Johnson v. State, 532 P.2d 598 (Wyo. 1975), where this court determined that (1) jury and bailiff expenses could not be taxed as costs, and (2) the expense of expert medical witnesses could only be charged at the statutory rate of $25. That decision left open the possibility of additional payments for three further witnesses. The tenor of the case was to follow the standards applicable to civil cases.    Until the legislature provides some statutory differentiation, or this court adopts special provisions within the rules of criminal procedure, general standards as applicable to costs in civil cases will be applied, including witness fees, service fees, and fees for depositions when actually used, since no basis exists for differentiating assessable costs in civil and criminal cases. See Rule 54(d), W.R.C.P.; Rule 1, W.R.C.P.; Rule 20(a), W.R. Cr.P. Certain principles, as well as problems, can be extrapolated from the Wyoming criminal and civil cost-assessment cases. (a) Costs may only be assessed as statutorily authorized.    The civil costs statute, § 1-14-124, W.S. 1977, affords no itemization detail, nor does any procedural rule. Even in the civil cases, what may be assessed as costs against the loser is not very clearly established by either statute or rule,   . (b) The standard generally applied is the amount statutorily allowed for witness fees and travel expenses duly claimed and supported by evidence. Section 1-14-102, W.S. 1977, 1987 Cum.Supp.    (c) Institutional costs resulting from court, jury and bailiff expenses as examples, cannot be charged.[ [3] ] Kaess, 748 P.2d at 703. Proof sufficient to sustain any prosecutorial cost assessment is not provided in this record.
The applicable statutes relating to costs of defense reimbursement for public defender services provide: (a) The determination of whether a person covered by W.S. 7-6-104 is a needy person shall be deferred until his first appearance in court or in a suit for payment or reimbursement under W.S. 7-6-108, whichever occurs earlier. Thereafter, the court shall determine, with respect to each proceeding, whether he is a needy person. (b) In determining whether a person is a needy person and in determining the extent of his inability to pay, the court shall consider the standards promulgated pursuant to W.S. 7-6-103(c)(vii). Release on bail does not necessarily prevent a person from being determined to be needy. In each case the person, subject to the penalties for perjury, shall certify in writing, or by other record, the material factors relating to his ability to pay as the court prescribes. (c) To the extent that a person receives the services set out in W.S. 7-6-104, and is able to provide some funds toward the costs associated with such services, the presiding court may order the person to reimburse the state for the cost of the services provided. In making such an order, the court shall consider the financial resources of the person and the expenses and services provided in light of the state public defender's standard fee schedule. Where a person is initially provided with counsel pursuant to W.S. 7-6-105(a), but subsequently retains private counsel, the court may order the person to reimburse the state for the services already provided. (d) If the court orders probation before sentence, suspended sentence or probation, the court shall order the needy person as a condition of sentence or probation to repay the state for expenses and services provided by appointed attorneys pursuant to the state public defender's standard fee schedule. W.S. 7-6-106; and (a) Within six (6) years after the date the services were rendered, the attorney general may sue on behalf of the state to recover payment or reimbursement from each person who has received legal assistance or other benefits under this act. (b) Amounts recovered under this section shall be paid into the state general fund. W.S. 7-6-108. The validity of reimbursement for Seaton is adversely determined by our decisions in King v. State, 780 P.2d 943, 957 (Wyo. 1989) and Keller v. State, 771 P.2d 379, 387 (Wyo. 1989). There are two problems created by statute application for validation of the sentence provision. In first instance, there is nothing of record demonstrating that the public defender has adopted a validly computed standard fee schedule. This record also provides no evidence demonstrating how the defense attorney fee reimbursement charge was computed, including hourly rate, time or any lode star itemization. However, a more serious difficulty exists. We stated in Keller, 771 P.2d 379, and restated even more forcefully in King, 780 P.2d at 957 and now repeat emphatically, the district court [can] not order reimbursement without first determining the defendant's ability to pay. W.S. 7-6-106(c) states in pertinent part: [T]he court shall consider the financial resources of the person and the expenses and services provided in light of the state public defender's standard fee schedule. Cf. Burke v. State, 746 P.2d 852 (Wyo. 1987), decided under the law that existed prior to the 1987 revision. See also Phillips v. State, 553 P.2d 1037, 1041 (Wyo. 1976) for a discussion of ability to pay any public defender reimbursement determination.