Opinion ID: 2629689
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: attorney fees as restitution

Text: We turn now to Hunziker's principal assertion on appeal. Hunziker contends that the district court erred in requiring him to pay restitution for Van Loenen's private attorney fees. Hunziker asks this court to reverse the restitution order and direct the district court to prepare a new journal entry reflecting the correct amount of restitution. A court lacks authority to assess attorney fees under its equitable powers absent statutory authority. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Maish, 21 Kan. App. 2d 885, 905-06, 908 P.2d 1329 (1995). Here, whether the trial court had the authority to impose attorney fees is a question of law; our review is plenary. See Hamilton v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 263 Kan. 875, 879, 953 P.2d 1027 (1998). Walker, 26 Kan. App.2d at 411. The State's position is that Van Loenen's payment of the private attorney fees was caused by Hunziker's commission of a crime and is therefore compensable as restitution under K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 21-4610(d)(1). Without citing any case law in support of its position, the State points out that the cases cited by Hunziker are not criminal cases; thus, the State contends that no legal authority supports Hunziker's position. Finally, the State argues that if the legislature disagrees with the award of private attorney fees as restitution in criminal cases, then the legislature can amend 21-4610(d)(1). In his briefs, Hunziker sets forth several reasons why he believes the restitution should not have been awarded for Van Loenen's private attorney fees. First, we consider Hunziker's argument concerning cases where the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed restitution orders for a victim's attorney fees under the federal Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982 (VWPA), 18 U.S.C. § 3663 (2000). Due to the VWPA's explicit language limiting an award of restitution in cases of destruction or loss of property to only those losses sustained by any victim as a result of the offense (18 U.S.C. § 3663), federal courts generally will not order restitution for a victim's consequential attorney fees. See Hughey v. United States, 495 U.S. 411, 413, 109 L. Ed.2d 408, 110 S. Ct. 1979 (1990) (interpreting predecessor to 18 U.S.C. § 3663 to permit restitution only for those losses caused by specific conduct that is the basis of the offense of conviction); United States v. Patty, 992 F.2d 1045, 1049 (10th Cir. 1993) (holding that attorney fees incurred by the victim to recover his property are not directly related to the defendant's criminal conduct and thus are not recoverable in restitution under the VWPA and overturning any attorney fees not directly related to Defendant's criminal conduct); United States v. Mullins, 971 F.2d 1138, 1147 (4th Cir. 1992) (denying restitution for legal fees incurred in an effort to recover equipment taken through fraud). As this court noted in Applegate, K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 21-4610(d)(1) provides only a general statement of the legislature's intent, in contrast with the VWPA, which provide[s] a very specific statement for determining the amount and payment of restitution. 266 Kan. at 1077. We decline to apply federal case law based on the mandates of a specific federal statute as authority for an interpretation of our more general statute. Next, we turn our attention to Hunziker's comparison of the victim's private attorney fees to investigation expenses by a governmental agency, which are not recoverable as restitution or reparations. In Cox, the Court of Appeals briefly addressed this issue and found: The record is very limited on what services Van Loenen's attorney did provide. The district court file includes a letter written by the attorney to the defendants' attorneys and the trial court. He stated he and Van Loenen had been to a court hearing in early October and agreed to give the final amount Van Loenen would be requesting for reimbursement. He also stated the restitution amount requested was $15,302.24 and the supporting documentation was available. The county attorney appeared at all hearings on behalf of the State. There is nothing in this record to indicate what Van Loenen's attorney did, when he did it, the time he spent doing it, or his hourly fee for doing it. There is no finding by the court that the fee was reasonable or necessary. It appears Van Loenen retained the attorney to determine and document Van Loenen's damages. .... Based upon the record, Van Loenen's attorney did not act as prosecutor, assistant prosecutor, or special prosecutor, and the State's attorney did not relinquish his prosecutorial duties to Van Loenen's attorney. The attorney was hired by Van Loenen to act as his privately retained attorney and maintained his allegiance to Van Loenen and not the State. The attorney fee was an expense incurred by Van Loenen and not the State. Cox, 30 Kan. App.2d at 409-10. Hunziker's comparison of the victim's attorney fees to investigation costs incurred by a governmental entity advances a strained analogy, at best. Private attorney fees for individual representation cannot be compared to costs of investigation of a government agency. Thus, we decline to rely on the case law cited by Hunziker finding investigation costs unrecoverable as restitution as a basis for our decision in this case. Next, Hunziker contends that such an award is contrary to the American Rule, long followed by Kansas courts, which states that a court may not impose attorney fees unless authorized by statute or by prior agreement of the parties. In support, Hunziker cites State v. Dugan, 29 Kan. App.2d 71, 25 P.3d 145 (2001), where the State moved for attorney fees and costs related to the defendant's appeal of the imposition of a presumptive sentence. There, although the Court of Appeals agreed that the defendant's appeal was frivolous, Judge Green wrote: Although [Supreme Court Rule 7.07(c) (2001 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 52)] appears to give the appellate courts blanket authority to order attorney fees based on frivolous appeals, Kansas follows the American Rule that courts do not have authority to award attorney fees except when authorized by statute or agreed to by the parties. See United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Maish, 21 Kan. App. 2d 885, 905, 908 P.2d 1329 (1995). Likewise, a court does not have authority to impose attorney fees under its equitable powers in the absence of statutory authorization. [Citation omitted.] 29 Kan. App.2d at 73-74. Hunziker contends that K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 21-4610(d)(1) does not authorize restitution for attorney fees and concludes that since the parties did not agree to restitution for attorney fees, the district court erred in requiring him to pay the victim's attorney fees. The accuracy of Hunziker's assertion is predicated on the conclusion that 21-4610(d)(1) does not permit restitution damages for attorney fees. In Kansas, restitution for a victim's damages or loss depends on the establishment of a causal link between the defendant's unlawful conduct and the victim's damages. Beechum, 251 Kan. at 202-03. Not all tangential costs incurred as a result of a crime should be subject to restitution. Beechum, 251 Kan. 194, Syl.ś 3. The fee of $700 allowed as restitution accomplished nothing insofar as the prosecution of Cox was concerned. It has no causal connection to the crime of criminal damage to property. The order allowing it is reversed. Cox, 30 Kan. App.2d at 414. We find that Van Loenen's retention of an attorney was not a direct result of Hunziker's criminal conduct. Here, there was no need to trace embezzled funds, recreate destroyed data, or recover stolen property. Because Van Loenen's private attorney fees only arose as an indirect or consequential result of Hunziker's crime, we reverse the order allowing $700 in attorney fees as restitution.