State of Minnesota v. Kenneth E. Andersen, 871 N.W.2d 910

Kenneth Andersen was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder in June 2008 and sentenced to life without release; the court reserved restitution for 30 days.
The Crime Victims Reparations Board submitted a $6,500 restitution request for funeral expenses, which was served on Andersen’s trial attorney and mailed to Andersen; Andersen did not object within 30 days.
The district court did not rule on restitution at sentencing; neither party raised restitution on direct appeal or in postconviction proceedings.
In May 2014 the Department of Corrections began garnishing Andersen’s prison accounts for $6,500; Andersen moved in his criminal case to stop garnishment and return funds and requested appointed counsel.
In October 2014 the district court ordered Andersen to pay $6,500 restitution, denied return-of-funds relief (on the merits), and denied appointment of counsel; this appeal followed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Andersen)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Statutory authority / service of notice	Service was ineffective on counsel or defendant, so court lacked authority to order restitution	Service upon attorney of record was proper; statute deems notice to attorney as notice to offender	Court held service on trial counsel was effective and court had authority to order restitution
Timeliness of restitution (6 years post-conviction)	Restitution order was untimely and violated finality	Statute permits post-sentencing restitution if certain conditions met; conditions here satisfied	Court held statute allowed post-sentencing restitution and conditions were met, so order was timely under statute
Return of funds garnished before court order	Money taken unlawfully; court should order DOC to return funds	Challenge to DOC administrative action must be pursued through administrative/appropriate procedural vehicle, not a criminal motion	Court affirmed denial of return request but on grounds that a criminal-case motion was not the proper vehicle to challenge DOC garnishment
Right to appointed counsel / due process	Denial of appointed counsel violated Sixth Amendment and state constitution; due process violated by post-sentencing restitution	No right to appointed counsel for Andersen’s motion (it was not a restitution hearing); due process claim inadequately briefed	Court held denial of counsel was not error and declined to consider undeveloped due process claim

State v. Andersen, 784 N.W.2d 320 (Minn. 2010) (affirming Andersen’s conviction)
Andersen v. State, 830 N.W.2d 1 (Minn. 2013) (postconviction appeal affirmance)
State v. Johnson, 851 N.W.2d 60 (Minn. 2014) (affirming restitution ordered years after sentencing)
State v. Schnagl, 859 N.W.2d 297 (Minn. 2015) (criminal motion is not proper vehicle to review DOC administrative actions)
State v. Tenerelli, 598 N.W.2d 668 (Minn. 1999) (district court discretion to award restitution)
Dobbins v. State, 788 N.W.2d 719 (Minn. 2010) (factual findings reviewed for clear error)
State v. Pflepsen, 590 N.W.2d 759 (Minn. 1999) (questions of law reviewed de novo)
State v. Maddox, 825 N.W.2d 140 (Minn. Ct. App. 2013) (discussing right to counsel at restitution hearing)
State v. Weigand, 645 N.W.2d 125 (Minn. 2002) (de novo review for constitutional questions)