Opinion ID: 2539186
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Trial Court Must Make Specific Findings on the Record of Bearden Considerations.

Text: Because Bearden requirements apply despite the defendants' agreeing to make child support payments as part of the plea bargaining process, the Court of Appeals reached the correct result in both cases by vacating the trial court's orders revoking probation for Marshall and Johnson. We note that the trial court did afford both defendants an opportunity to present evidence to explain their failure to make the required payments. But the trial court failed to make adequate findings on the record: (1) whether each defendant had made sufficient bona fide efforts to make payments but was unable to do so from no fault of his own and, if so, (2) whether alternatives to incarceration would suffice to accomplish the Commonwealth's punishment and deterrence objectives. Similarly to the trial court in Bearden, which commented on the availability of odd jobs but made no finding about whether the defendant made sufficient bona fide efforts to comply with his payment conditions, [45] the trial court stated that it did not believe Marshall could not find a job (despite Marshall testifying to working odd jobs) because undocumented noncitizens could get jobs. And it failed to find whether Marshall made sufficient bona fide efforts to comply with child support payment conditions. Likewise, it did not explicitly find whether Johnson made sufficient bona fide attempts to make payments, despite stating that his failure to make payments for over a year indicated a willful refusal to pay. This statement gives the appearance that the trial court based any finding of a willful refusal to pay based solely on the lack of payments for over a year without explicitly assessing whether the defendant had made sufficient bona fide efforts to pay but was unable to do so due to no fault of his own. On remand, the trial court is directed to find whether each defendant made sufficient bona fide attempts to make payments but was unable to make the required payments through no fault of his own and, if so, whether alternative punishment might accomplish the Commonwealth's punishment and deterrence objectives. The trial court must specifically identify the evidence it relies upon in making these determinations on the record, as well as the specific reason(s) for revoking probation on the record. Although we indicated in Alleman that such findings do not necessarily have to be in writing, we hold that the trial court must make such findings specifically on the record. It is not enough that an appellate court might find some evidence in the record to support a reason for revoking probation by reviewing the whole record. Stating general conclusory reasons for revoking probation is not enough, as we recognized in Alleman. [46]