State v. Grantham
State v. Grantham
Opinion of the Court
¶1 — Jonathan Grantham appeals a restitution order entered more than 180 days after his sentencing. He asserts that the trial court lacked good cause to continue the restitution hearing beyond the statutory 180-day deadline. We agree and reverse and remand for vacation of the restitution order.
FACTS
¶2 On October 21,2010, Grantham pleaded guilty to five charges, including residential burglary and first degree possession of stolen property. The trial court did not order resti
¶3 The trial court continued the restitution hearing several times. On March 2, 2011, the parties appeared for a scheduling hearing and Grantham’s then-present attorney moved to revoke Grantham’s previous waiver of appearance for his restitution hearing arising from his October 21 guilty plea. The trial court reset the restitution hearing for April 1, but Grantham’s counsel advised the court that due to his “next motion” that was “probably not” a realistic time. Suppl. Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 72.
¶4 Grantham’s attorney then presented an unopposed motion to withdraw as Grantham’s counsel. The State pointed out that “if the Court allows withdrawal and . . . Grantham wants to be present, the 180 day clock would expire April 28th and so a new attorney’s probably going to need time. I want to make sure if we go beyond that, that the Defendant is waiving the 180 day period.” CP at 73-74.
¶5 The trial court granted the attorney’s motion to withdraw and appointed a new attorney for Grantham. It recognized that the April 1 setting was “not going to be appropriate” and set the restitution hearing for April 28, without objection from counsel and without the trial court noting that this continuance was beyond the 180-day statutory limit. CP at 76-77. When the trial court asked the State to agree to the continuance, the State incorrectly stated, “The Defendant was sentenced on October 31st, so the 180 day period will be fine for the State.” CP at 76. The actual expiration date, based on the October 21 sentencing, was April 19, 2011.
f6 The April 28 restitution hearing was then continued to June 2 because Grantham was not available, then it was reset again to June 9. On June 9,2011, Grantham objected to additional continuances but the court found good cause and continued the hearing to June 16. On June 16, Grantham again objected to the continuance to June 16. The trial court
¶7 At an August 4, 2011, hearing on Grantham’s objection to the continuance of the restitution hearing, held well beyond the 180-day limit, the trial court first explained the reasons for the March continuance. It stated, “[0]ne of the issues was that Mr. Grantham had to switch attorneys at the last minute. Mr. Grantham also chose to be present now, even though he waived that at his sentencing, so we had to make arrangements to get him here.... So the matter was continued, essentially, by agreement of the parties.” Report of Proceedings (RP) at 66. Grantham did not object to the court’s characterization of his agreement to the extension of time.
¶8 The trial court later entered formal findings denying Grantham’s motion objecting to the continuance of the restitution hearing beyond 180 days following sentencing.
¶9 Grantham appeals.
¶10 Grantham no longer assigns error to the continuance from June 9th to June 16th. Instead, he argues that the trial court did not have good cause to grant the continuance to April 28 because all parties incorrectly believed that the 180-day time limit would not expire until after that date and, thus, the trial court “never found good cause to continue the hearing past the 180-day deadline.” Br. of Appellant at 4-5.
¶11 The State responds that despite the mutual error about the correct expiration date for a restitution hearing, the trial court had good cause to continue the hearing to April 28.
I. RCW 9.94A.753(1)
¶12 RCW 9.94A.753(1) states, “When restitution is ordered, the court shall determine the amount of restitution due at the sentencing hearing or within one hundred eighty days .... The court may continue the hearing beyond the one hundred eighty days for good cause.” The time limit is mandatory, although the court may continue the restitution hearing beyond the 180-day limit for good cause if a party so requests before the time limit has expired. State v. Prado, 144 Wn. App. 227, 249, 181 P.3d 901 (2008). We review challenges to the entry of restitution orders for abuse of discretion. Prado, 144 Wn. App. at 249.
¶13 The State’s threshold argument is that Grantham waived his right to object to the continuance to April 28 because he initially agreed to it; he did not object to the April 28 date before April 19, which would have allowed the hearing to be held within 180 days; and he did not argue before the trial court that it wrongly granted a continuance beyond the 180-day limit.
¶14 Grantham relies on State v. Moen, 129 Wn.2d 535, 919 P.2d 69 (1996) to argue that waiver is inapplicable to his circumstance. In Moen, our Supreme Court ruled:
Where a restitution order is involved, the defendant’s failure to object to a late order does not entail the same potential for abuse as that described in [State v.] Wicke[, 91 Wn.2d 638, 591 P.2d 452 (1979)]; the defendant is not withholding an objection in order to take a chance on a favorable verdict. All that is involved is a court ruling the restitution order invalid because the timeliness requirement has not been met. Whether the trial court or the appellate court makes that determination is a distinction with little difference, once the time period has passed.
Moen, 129 Wn.2d at 547 (emphasis added). Clearly, Grantham was not required to preserve his objection to a late restitution hearing under Moen.
¶15 Even if Grantham had been required to preserve this objection, waiver does not apply here. “A party waives a statute of limitations affirmative defense (1) by engaging in conduct that is inconsistent with that party’s later assertion of the defense or (2) by being dilatory in asserting the defense.” Greenhalgh v. Dep’t of Corn, 170 Wn. App. 137, 144, 282 P.3d 1175 (2012). And the 60-day time period for setting a restitution order “operates like an ordinary statute of limitations.” State v. Duvall, 86 Wn. App. 871, 875, 940 P.2d 671 (1997). Thus, we apply the requirements for waiver of a statute of limitations defense here.
III. No Good Cause for Extension of Time
¶17 Grantham next argues that the trial court did not find good cause to schedule the restitution hearing beyond the 180-day deadline. He argues that the trial court “could not have found ‘good cause’ to continue the hearing beyond the 180-day limit because the prosecutor repeatedly misrepresented that the continuance he sought was within the 180-day limit.” Br. of Appellant at 6. This argument requires us to determine whether a trial court must state its reasons for continuing a restitution hearing beyond the 180th day following sentencing before the 180th day has passed.
¶18 RCW 9.94A.753(1) allows a trial court to continue a restitution hearing beyond the 180th day following sentencing for good cause. The record shows that the State and the trial court incorrectly assumed that the 180 days expired on April 28, and that the trial court had reasons to continue the hearing on March 2, 2011. But the trial court’s March 2 ruling recognized only that the April 1 setting was “not going to be appropriate” and it then set the restitution hearing for April 28. Nothing in the trial court’s ruling showed that it intended to continue Grantham’s restitution hearing beyond the 180-day time limit that expired on April 19.
¶20 Here, because the continuance of Grantham’s restitution hearing on March 2 was not based on an express finding of good cause to hold it later than 180 days after sentencing, as RCW 9.94A.753G) requires, the hearing was not timely and we must reverse and vacate the invalid restitution order. Moen, 129 Wn.2d at 547; State v. Davison, 116 Wn.2d 917, 919, 809 P.2d 1374 (1991) (The trial court’s authority to order restitution is statutory.).
¶21 Accordingly, we reverse and remand for vacation of the restitution order.
A commissioner of this court initially considered this appeal as a motion on the merits under RAP 18.14 and then transferred it to a panel of judges.
On. August 25, the trial court held a short hearing to review the proposed findings and conclusions. Grantham did not object to any findings, but the court corrected a mistyped date at his request.
The State notes that Grantham was unavailable from March 25 until after April 28 because he was detained in another county, so it was impossible for the court to hold the hearing after April 1 and before the expiration of the deadline on April 19.
Dissenting Opinion
¶22 (dissenting) — On March 2,2011, 132 days after Jonathan Grantham pleaded guilty and waived his appearance at any subsequent restitution hearing, Grantham revoked his waiver of presence and his counsel withdrew. Despite these substantial changes in circumstances occasioned by Grantham and mandating a continuance of any restitution hearing, the majority vacates the trial court’s order requiring that Grantham pay $58,174.65 to his victims. Because the trial court substantially complied with the requirements of RCW 9.94A.753 when it continued the restitution hearing to a date 189 days after entry of Grantham’s plea, I respectfully dissent.
¶24 Appellate courts “do not engage in overly technical construction [of the restitution statute] that would permit the defendant to escape from just punishment.” State v. Tobin, 161 Wn.2d 517, 524, 166 P.3d 1167 (2007) (citing State v. Davison, 116 Wn.2d 917, 922, 809 P.2d 1374 (1991)). The majority’s reading of RCW 9.94A.753 unnecessarily limits the trial court’s authority even in the face of extenuating circumstances caused by the defendant and prevents Grantham from being held accountable for the consequences of his crime. State v. Gonzalez, 168 Wn.2d 256, 265, 226 P.3d 131, cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 318 (2010). “[According to the statute’s plain language and legislative history, it is clear the [restitution] statute is intended to ensure that defendants fulfill their responsibility to compensate victims for losses resulting from their crimes.” Gonzalez, 168 Wn.2d at 265. Although the majority reads RCW 9.94A.753 as if it requires vacation of the restitution order in this case, the plain language does not contain any such express requirement. But see CrR 3.3(h) (“A charge not brought to trial within the time limit determined under this rule shall be dismissed with prejudice.”). Therefore, I do not agree that RCW 9.94A.753 requires this court to vacate an order for
¶25 Furthermore, I agree that the court’s general jurisdiction to impose restitution is statutory. See RCW 9.94A.753; RCW 9A.20.030. However, the majority’s reading of the statute implies that the trial court’s jurisdiction is limited to 180 days without an explicit finding that there is good cause to continue jurisdiction. I cannot agree. Once a trial court has assumed jurisdiction for the purposes of restitution, the trial court maintains jurisdiction until the restitution obligation is satisfied. RCW 9.94A.753(4).
¶26 Importantly, the trial court’s failure to explicitly state there was good cause to continue past the 180-day
f 27 Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
Review denied at 178 Wn.2d 1006 (2013).
Furthermore, the trial court may modify the restitution order “during any period of time the offender remains under the court’s jurisdiction, regardless of the expiration of the offender’s term of community supervision and regardless of the statutory maximum sentence for the crime.” RCW 9.94A.753C4).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State of Washington v. Jonathan Grantham
- Cited By
- 14 cases
- Status
- Published