Opinion ID: 681322
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Remoteness.

Text: 20 Rice next contends that the restitution award was too speculative and remote, emphasizing that not all damages cognizable in a civil action can be awarded as restitution. See United States v. Salcedo-Lopez, 907 F.2d 97, 98 (9th Cir.1992) (disallowing restitution for the costs of investigation and prosecution); United States v. Kenney, 789 F.2d 783, 784 (9th Cir.) (no restitution for salaries of trial witnesses), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 990, 107 S.Ct. 586, 93 L.Ed.2d 588 (1986); United States v. Tyler, 767 F.2d 1350, 1351-52 (9th Cir.1985) (no restitution for the decline in the value of stolen timber where the decline was caused by market forces, not the defendant's conduct). 21 These cases are inapposite. Causation is a question of fact, reviewed for clear error. Bunting v. United States, 884 F.2d 1143, 1145 (9th Cir.1989). Here, Rice sent false quality assurances, packed merchandise itself in violation of Grumman requirements, and sent packaging slips which did not correspond to actual merchandise. That such conduct will render one's inventory suspect and make tracing difficult is foreseeable. Grumman's loss is neither remote nor speculative. See, e.g., Kenney, 789 F.2d at 784 (upholding restitution awarded to a bank to cover the cost of removing surveillance film from the bank's security camera); United States v. Koenig, 952 F.2d 267, 274-75 (9th Cir.1991) (upholding restitution for the cost of reprogramming bank computers after defendants had electronically subverted the bank's automatic teller machine). Like the bank which had an obligation to reprogram its computers to protect its customers, Grumman had an obligation to protect its customers (and the public) by not using fasteners which did not comply with industry standards. The district court found that, in order to fulfill its obligation, Grumman had to impound or refuse to use its Rice-supplied inventory. This finding was not clearly erroneous. 22