Court Opinion

ID: 9940497
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-14 17:12:27.073236+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:44:55.430885
License: Public Domain

692                February 14, 2024              No. 93

        IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE
                STATE OF OREGON

                In the Matter of R. D. M.,
                         a Youth.
                  STATE OF OREGON,
                       Respondent,
                            v.
                        R. D. M.,
                        Appellant.
              Douglas County Circuit Court
                   21JU01475; A177754

  Jason R. Thomas, Judge pro tempore.
  Argued and submitted October 25, 2023.
   Christa Obold Eshleman argued the cause for appellant.
Also on the briefs was Youth, Rights & Justice.
   Patricia G. Rincon, Assistant Attorney General, argued
the cause for respondent. Also on the brief were Ellen F.
Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman,
Solicitor General.
  Before Shorr, Presiding Judge, and Mooney, Judge, and
Pagán, Judge.
  PAGÁN, J.
Cite as 330 Or App 692 (2024)   693
694                                                      State v. R. D. M.

           PAGÁN, J.
         In this juvenile delinquency proceeding, youth
appeals from a supplemental judgment awarding restitution
in the amount of $2,638.25 for the victim’s medical bills and
broken glasses. The juvenile court asserted jurisdiction over
youth for conduct that if committed by an adult would consti-
tute fourth-degree assault. The juvenile court entered a judg-
ment of jurisdiction and disposition on July 27, 2021, and,
after restitution hearings, the juvenile court entered a supple-
mental judgment adding the restitution amount on December
10, 2021. In a single assignment of error, youth argues that
the juvenile court erred in awarding restitution because the
presentation of restitution evidence was untimely. For the
reasons explained below, we reverse the restitution award.
         “We review a restitution order for legal error and
are bound by the juvenile court’s factual findings if they
are supported by any evidence in the record.” State v. C. A.
M.-D., 312 Or App 1, 3, 493 P3d 55, rev den, 368 Or 637
(2021). We review questions of statutory interpretation for
legal error. State v. M. A. S., 302 Or App 687, 698-99, 462
P3d 284 (2020) (citing State v. Gaines, 346 Or 160, 171-73,
206 P3d 1042 (2009)).
           ORS 419C.450(1)(a)1 provides, in part:
      “In any case within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court
   pursuant to ORS 419C.005 in which the adjudicated youth
   caused another person any physical, emotional or psycho-
   logical injury or any loss of or damage to property, the vic-
   tim has the right to receive prompt restitution. The district
   attorney shall investigate and present to the court, prior to
   or at the time of adjudication, evidence of the nature and
   amount of the injury, loss or damage.”
Thus, the timing requirement in ORS 419C.450(1)(a)
requires the state to present its restitution evidence “prior
to or at the time of adjudication.”
        In M. A. S., 302 Or App at 705, we determined that
“adjudication is a determination of jurisdiction over a youth

    1
      ORS 419C.450 was amended in 2021. See Or Laws 2021, ch 489, § 72. Those
amendments do not affect our analysis, so we refer to the current version of the
statute.
Cite as 330 Or App 692 (2024)                              695

based on a finding of delinquency[.]” In that case, the state
presented its restitution evidence at the disposition hear-
ing, which occurred about two months after the adjudication
hearing. Id. at 691-92. We concluded that the state’s presen-
tation of its restitution evidence was untimely because the
state failed to present that evidence “before the court signed
and entered the minute order that concluded the adjudica-
tory phase of the proceeding.” Id. at 705. Similarly, in State
v. L. G. S.-S., 307 Or App 208, 212, 475 P3d 922 (2020), we
reversed a supplemental judgment awarding restitution
because the state failed to present restitution evidence, or
even request restitution, at the adjudication hearing.
         Here, youth contends that the juvenile court erred in
awarding restitution because the district attorney failed to
present restitution evidence before the juvenile court deter-
mined youth to be within its jurisdiction, which occurred at
a combined adjudication and disposition hearing on July 15.
The state responds that a district attorney can present res-
titution evidence “at any point before the adjudication deter-
mination is memorialized in a written order.” The July 15
hearing occurred before a referee, and the referee’s letter
opinion and proposed judgment of jurisdiction and disposi-
tion was entered on July 27, and later signed by a judge on
August 17. The parties do not dispute that, at the latest, the
time of adjudication was July 27.
         We need not decide whether “prior to or at the time
of adjudication” in ORS 419C.450(1)(a) means the conclusion
of the adjudication hearing, as youth contends, or whether
it means when the adjudication determination is memorial-
ized in a written order or judgment, as the state contends.
Even if the state’s position is the correct one, which we do
not decide, the record indicates that the district attorney
failed to present “evidence of the nature and amount of the
injury, loss or damage” on or before July 27.
         On July 15, the victim testified regarding the
nature of the injuries he sustained as a result of youth’s
assaultive conduct. Youth admitted punching the victim in
the face, and youth stated that the victim’s glasses “flew off.”
Thus, the district attorney presented evidence of the nature
of the victim’s injury, loss, or damage on July 15, but the
696                                          State v. R. D. M.

district attorney did not present evidence of the amount of
the injury, loss, or damage at that time. Instead, evidence
of the amount was presented at a restitution hearing on
August 19.
         To be sure, toward the end of the combined adjudi-
cation and disposition hearing that occurred on July 15, the
district attorney argued that defendant should be required
to pay restitution in the amount of $2,552.06 for the victim’s
medical bills and broken glasses. In addition, on July 21,
the district attorney filed a “Restitution Schedule” identi-
fying the amount of restitution as $2,638.25 for the victim’s
medical expenses. But those requests or statements were
not evidence of the amount of the injury, loss, or damage.
See State v. Stull, 296 Or App 435, 440, 438 P3d 471 (2019)
(“Evidence for the consideration of a factfinder at trial con-
sists of the testimony and demeanor of witnesses while
under oath and exhibits received into evidence. Statements
by individuals in the courtroom, even parties, are not ‘evi-
dence’ when those statements are not given while a person
is under oath on the witness stand.”). Instead, the state first
presented evidence of the restitution amount on August 19,
when the court heard testimony from the victim’s mother
and received exhibits regarding bills for the victim’s medical
costs. Whether adjudication occurred on July 15 or July 27,
by August 19, the restitution evidence was untimely because
it was not presented “prior to or at the time of adjudication”
as required by ORS 419C.450(1)(a).
         In arguing that it complied with the statute, the
state relies on ORS 419C.450(1)(a)(B), which provides, in
part, that if the court finds from the evidence presented
that a victim suffered injury, loss or damage, then it can
“[i]nclude in the judgment a requirement that the adjudi-
cated youth pay the victim restitution, and that the specific
amount of restitution will be established by a supplemental
judgment based upon a determination made by the court
within 90 days of entry of the judgment.” The state argues
that inherent in that provision is the court’s authority to
hold a restitution hearing to determine the specific amount
of restitution after entry of the judgment.
Cite as 330 Or App 692 (2024)                             697

         Certainly, by its plain terms, ORS 419C.450(1)(a)(B)
provides a mechanism to establish the “specific amount”
of restitution after adjudication.        Nevertheless, ORS
419C.450(1)(a) requires the state to present some evidence
of the nature and amount of the injury, loss, or damage
prior to or at the time of adjudication. Here, the record indi-
cates that the district attorney failed to do so on or before
July 27. Consequently, the state failed to comply with ORS
419C.450(1)(a), and the restitution evidence was untimely.
        Supplemental      judgment     reversed;    otherwise
affirmed.