[¶ 1] Bеnjamin Clayton appealed from an amended judgment ordering him to pay $24,897.16 in restitution. We affirm.
I
[¶ 2] According to a police affidavit, officers responding to a reported disturbance observed one mаn holding another man in a headlock and repeatedly punching his face. The men were identified as Clayton and his father, respectively. As a result of the fight, both men suffered facial injuries. Clayton’s father alsо suffered a broken ankle, which required corrective medical care. After charging Clayton with aggravated assault, the State amended its charge to simple assault and Clayton pled guilty. After the district court entered an according criminal judgment, the State moved to amend the judgment to include restitution of $24,897.16 for medical expenses associated with the ankle injury.
[¶3] Clayton objected to this amount and requested a restitution hearing. At the hearing, a hospital administrator testified the documents submitted by the State regarding the medical expenses were accurate. Clayton testified he and his father engaged in a verbаl altercation that escalated into a physical altercation. According to Clayton, his father threw the first punch, after which Clayton’s father tripped and fell, resulting in the two going to the ground. Once on thе ground, Clayton testified he placed his father in a headlock and he assaulted his father. Clayton testified he believed his father’s fall, not his own actions, caused the ankle injury. A minor who witnessed the incident also testified Clayton’s father threw the first punch and fell to the ground.
[¶ 4] After the hearing, the district court found: “Clayton and his [father] were arguing. The argument grew heated, and Clayton apparently threw the first punch. The two ended up rоlling on the ground, and Clayton’s father suffered the injury to his ankle.” In its order, the court rejected Clayton’s assertion the ankle injury occurred prior to his assault because parsing when or how the injury occurred relative to the assault was infeasible. The court concluded the State did not have to prove the ankle injury arose from a specific violent act on the part of Clayton; rather, it sufficed the Statе established an assault and an injury occurred. According to the court, Clayton did not establish something other than his actions caused the ankle injury. Accordingly, the court granted the State’s motion and amended thе criminal judgment to include a restitution award of $24,897.16.
II
[¶ 5] Clayton argues the district court acted outside its statutory authority by ordering restitution for the ankle injury. Unless inappropriate under N.D.C.C. § 12.1-32-08(l)(a)-(e), a “court, when sentencing a person adjudged guilty of criminal activities that have resulted in pecuniary damages, in addition to any other sentence the court may impose, shall order that the defendant make restitution to the victim or other recipient as determined by the court....” N.D.C.C. § 12.1-32-08(1). Restitution is limited to those damages “directly related to the criminal offense and expenses actually incurred as a direct result of the defendant’s criminal action.” N.D.C.C. § 12.1-32-08(l)(a). This direct relationship requires “an immediate and intimate causal connection between the criminal conduct and the damages or expenses for which restitution is ordered.”
State v. Pippin,
[¶ 6] “This Court’s review of a restitution order is limited to whether the district court acted within the limits set by statute, which is similar to an abuse of discretiоn standard.”
Id.
(quoting
State v. Tupa,
[¶ 7] On appeal, Clayton primarily argues the State did not meet its burden of proof regarding his assault directly resulting in the ankle injury. Although not explicitly stating so, the district court implicitly found Clayton’s assault directly resulted in the ankle injury. With his argument, Clayton challenges the sufficiency of evidence supporting the court’s factual finding. Whether an injury directly .resulted-from a defendant’s criminаl conduct is a question of fact.
Cf. Miller v. Diamond Res., Inc.,
[¶ 8] On this recоrd, we are" not left with a firm and definite conviction the district court erred in finding Clayton’s assault resulted in the ankle injury. At the restitution hearing, Clayton admitted to punching his-father multiple times and causing facial injuries. Clayton also testified he and his father violently skirmished on the ground prior to Clayton placing his father in a headlock. On this ’ testimony, the ankle injury-is-consistent in nature with what could be expected to arise from an altercatiоn and assault of this nature. Although the State presented no direct evidence or testimony to this effect, the testimony presented at the restitution hearing, taken with the facts supporting Clayton’s guilty plea, was suffiсient to infer Clayton’s criminal conduct of assaulting his father resulted in the ankle injury. With this evidence, we are not left with a definite and firm conviction the district court erred in concluding Clayton’s assault directly resulted in his fathеr’s ankle injury. The district court’s finding to that effect was not clearly erroneous.
[¶ 9] Clayton further argues the district court’s finding was clearly erroneous because it contrasted his uncontradicted testimony. At the hearing, Clаyton testified to his belief his father broke his ankle falling to the ground, which, according to Clayton, occurred prior - to the assault. While the State did not present contradictory testimony, the district court was not obligated to accept Clayton’s testimony as fact.
In re Estate of Clemetson,
[¶ 10] Clayton also argues the district court impermissibly placed the burden on him to disprove the existence of a direct relationship between his criminal conduct and the anklе injury. As discussed above, the burden of proof regarding restitution rests with the State. This burden consists of two elements: “the burden of going forward with the evidence and the burden of persuasion.”
Helbling v. Helbling,
[¶ 11] As a final matter, Clayton argues thе district court erred in awarding restitution because his criminal conduct occurred subsequent to the'ankle injury. In support of this argument, Clayton cites other cases, most pertinently
State v. Steinolfson,
[¶ 12]
Steinolfson
is distinguishable. In
Steinolfson,
the damages for which restitution was ordered unquestionably occurred prior to the commission of the criminal conduct. The clear demarcation between the commission of the criminal conduct and the injury for which restitution was sought in
Steinolfson
is not present here. Whereas Steinolfson could not havе left the scene of the accident without first causing the damages for which restitution- was sought, Clayton could have assaulted his father prior to the ankle injury. By all accounts, the implicated altercatiоn occurred quickly and violently. When precisely the ankle injury occurred relative to Clayton assaulting .his father in this melee may never be known.
Ill
[¶ 13] We do not address the other arguments raised because they are either unnecessary to this decision or are without merit. We affirm the amended criminal judgment.