Court Opinion

ID: 9597286
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:57:19.449963+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:54:21.799358
License: Public Domain

DISSENTING OPINION OF
NAKAMURA, J.
The court affirms “the total amount of restitution” ordered by the circuit court and remands the case for further proceedings to give “Defendant ... an opportunity to challenge the reasonableness of the Adult Probation Division’s recommendation relative to the manner of payment of the restitution amount.” Since she was required to make restitution as part of the sentence imposed for committing Theft in the Third Degree, the circuit court, in my opinion, erred in setting the amount of restitution.
When a person who has been convicted of a crime is placed on probation, he may be required “[t]o make restitution of the fruits of his crimes or to make reparation, in an amount he can afford to pay, for the loss or damage caused thereby[.]” Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 706-624(2)(i). Here, the defendant was adjudged guilty of Theft in the Third Degree, a petty misdemeanor involving the theft of property or services of a value not exceeding fifty dollars. See HRS §§ 708-831 to -833. Yet she was ordered to “make restitution to the victim in the amount of $5,406.33 less $75.00.” In my view there was no basis for requiring restitution in excess of fifty dollars, and I would vacate the invalid condition of probation imposed by the circuit court.