149 Wash. 2d 444 | Wash. | 2003
Juvenile offender J.P. contends that the Court of Appeals erred in ordering him to make restitution for his assault victim’s counseling expenses. J.P. maintains that, because the statutory definition of “restitution” specifies that restitution “shall be limited to . . . costs of the victim’s counseling reasonably related to the offense if the offense is a sex offense,” the juvenile court is not permitted to
FACTS
On June 1, 2000, 14-year-old J.P. was charged, pursuant to RCW 9A.36.041, with fourth degree assault with sexual motivation, a gross misdemeanor.
*449 [O]n the merits, the court concludes that RCW 13.40.020(22) controls here and limits restitution for counseling to sex offenses. RCW 13.40.020(22) is both more specific and was inacted [sic] more recently than the more permissive and more general language in RCW 13.40.190(1). Thus, while the court believes that the victim’s emotional injuries were very real and the counseling was necessary, it concludes that the law does not permit recovery in this criminal proceeding.
Clerk’s Papers at 27.
The State appealed, and Division One of the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that, “[b]ecause the JJA is to be liberally construed in favor of restitution and the amendment on which the trial court relied was intended to increase penalties for sex offenses rather than limit penalties for other offenses, the trial court should have ordered restitution for counseling in this case.” State v. J.P., 111 Wn. App. at 107.
We granted J.P.’s petition for review.
ISSUE
Did the Court of Appeals properly conclude that a juvenile court has statutory authority to order an offender to pay restitution for the costs of a victim’s crime related counseling even if the crime was not a sex offense?
ANALYSIS
Standard of Review. Review of a juvenile court’s restitution order is limited to whether statutory authority exists for the imposed restitution. State v. Landrum, 66 Wn. App. 791, 795, 832 P.2d 1359 (1992). J.P. contends that the Court of Appeals erroneously concluded that RCW 13.40.190(1) permits a juvenile court to impose restitution for a victim’s crime-related counseling when the crime was not a sex offense. The interpretation of a statute is a question of law and is therefore reviewed de novo. State v. Schultz, 146 Wn.2d 540, 544, 48 P.3d 301 (2002).
“Restitution” means financial reimbursement by the offender to the victim, and shall be limited to easily ascertainable damages for injury to or loss of property, actual expenses incurred for medical treatment for physical injury to persons, and lost wages resulting from physical injury. Restitution shall not include reimbursement for damages for mental anguish, pain and suffering, or other intangible losses. Nothing in this chapter shall limit or replace civil remedies or defenses available to the victim or offender.
Former RCW 13.40.020(17) (1977) (emphasis added). In 1987, the legislature inserted the following sentence into the provision describing the dispositional order: “Restitution may include the costs of counseling reasonably related to the offense.” Laws of 1987, ch. 281, § 5(1) (emphasis added); RCW 13.40.190(1). When the legislature added this statement to RCW 13.40.190(1), permitting the court to order restitution for counseling costs, the legislature nevertheless left unchanged the definition of “restitution,” which specifically “limited” reimbursement to the “easily ascertainable” costs for property damage, medical expenses for physical injury, and lost wages for physical injury— three categories that simply do not encompass counseling costs. Former RCW 13.40.020(17).
In its 1992 Landrum decision, Division One of the Court of Appeals recognized that the amendment to RCW 13.40.190(1) conflicted with the definition of “restitution” in former RCW 13.40.020(17). 66 Wn. App. at 795-96. The Landrum court (which necessarily focused on the pre-1990 definition since the offenses had occurred in 1989) then
In 1990, the legislature did amend the “restitution” definition, adding to the existing three categories a fourth: “and costs of the victim’s counseling reasonably related to the offense if the offense is a sex offense.” Laws of 1990, ch. 3, § 301(17); RCW 13.40.020(22). This amendment thereby adopted from the 1987 amendment to RCW 13.40.190(1) the phrase “costs of counseling reasonably related to the offense.” Had the 1990 amendment simply stopped there, it would have corrected the seeming oversight in the 1987 legislation, clearing up the problem that had faced the Landrum court; the statutory definition of “restitution” would have acknowledged that one of the limited areas for which restitution could be ordered was psychological coun
Construing the Statutory Authority. Whether a juvenile court may order restitution in nonsex offense cases cannot be determined from the plain meaning of RCW 13.40.190(1). Because RCW 13.40.190(1) uses the word “restitution,” the statutory definition of “restitution” in RCW 13.40.020(22) is, in effect, embedded in RCW 13.40.190(1). In other words, understanding the plain meaning of RCW 13.40.190(1) necessitates reading the subsection in light of the definition in RCW 13.40.020(22). As discussed above, the disposition statute broadly provides that restitution “may include” counseling costs, while the “restitution” definition specifies that restitution “shall be limited to” counseling costs arising from sex offenses. RCW 13.40.190(1), .020(22). The definition thus contradicts the broad, permissive statement in RCW 13.40.190(1), producing either an ambiguous statute or conflicting provisions.
To construe 13.40.190(1) and .020(22), we turn to the canons of statutory construction that the Landrum court applied to RCW 13.40.190(1) and the pre-1990 version of RCW 13.40.020(22). Under the first canon of construction, the provision coming later in the chapter must prevail
The Court of Appeals offered two unconvincing reasons for eschewing the canons it had previously applied in Landrum: “First, they can be applied to reach the results
Having rejected the applicable canons, the Court of Appeals purported to discover the legislative intent underlying RCW 13.40.190(1) by relying on some general provisions and principles. First, as the Court of Appeals noted, two aims of the legislature’s 1977 enactment of the JJA were to “[m]ake the juvenile offender accountable for his or her criminal behavior” and to “[pjrovide for restitution to victims of crime.” RCW 13.40.010(2)(c), (h). These general expressions of intent, however, do not negate the legislature’s intent, evident in the definition of the term “restitution,” to limit restitution to certain types of crime-related costs. Second, the Court of Appeals stated that “the restitution provisions of the JJA are to be liberally con
Finally, the Court of Appeals reasoned that, because the 1990 amendment was part of the community protection act of 1990, which was intended to enhance punishment for sex offenses,
CONCLUSION
We are mindful of the trial judge’s observation that the victim of this misdemeanor assault with sexual motivation needed counseling. We regret, as did the trial judge, that the legislature’s most recent, most specific definition of “restitution” in the JJA explicitly limits compensation for counseling to victims of felony sex offenses. Although we may wish that the legislature had not said what it did say, we cannot simply wish away the legislature’s specific statement that restitution “shall be limited to . . . costs of the victim’s counseling reasonably related to the offense if the offense is a sex offense.” RCW 13.40.020(22) (emphasis added). If restitution for counseling is to be available to victims of juvenile crimes that are not sex offenses, the legislature, not the courts, must delete this statutory language that says otherwise.
We reverse the Court of Appeals and reinstate the trial court’s denial of the State’s restitution request.
Alexander, C.J., and Johnson, Madsen, Sanders, Ireland, Bridge, Chambers, and Fairhurst, JJ., concur.
Clerk’s Papers at 1. The offense was not a “sex offense” as defined in RCW 13.40.020(25): “ ‘Sex offense’ means an offense defined as a sex offense in RCW 9.94A.030.” All crimes defined as sex offenses in RCW 9.94A.030 are felonies.
The Landrum court claimed that “[t]he pre-1990 definition section neither provides for nor excludes restitution for counseling expenses.” 66 Wn. App. at 796. While plainly the definition did not “provide! ] for” restitution, the court’s claim that the definition did not “exclude! ]” restitution disregards the provision’s plain language mandating that restitution “shall be limited to” the three categories of expenses.
Landrum, 66 Wn. App. at 799 n.10. Although their offenses predated the 1990 amendment to the definition, the juvenile offenders had invited the court to look to the amendment for legislative intent; however, because the offenses at issue in Landrum were sex offenses (both were charged with first degree child molestation), the court was not obliged to resolve the issue of whether the legislature intended to limit restitution to counseling for sex offenses. Id. at 799.
Either RCW 13.40.190(1) itself, when expanded by the statutory definition of “restitution," is ambiguous, or RCW 13.40.190(1) and .020(22) constitute conflicting provisions.
The Court of Appeals also suggests that RCW 13.40.020(22) “is not controlling because ‘[djefinitions are often general in nature,’ ” but here the 1990 amendment to the definition is demonstrably more specific than the 1987 addition to RCW 13.40.190(1): the 1990 amendment takes the 1987 amendment as its basic declaration and adds to it a qualifying clause. J.P., 111 Wn. App. at 112 (quoting Landrum, 66 Wn. App. at 796).
J.P., 111 Wn. App. at 110 n.10 (citing Final Legislative Report, 51st Leg., Reg. Sess., 2SSB 6259, at 142 (Wash. 1990)).
Id. at 113 (citing former RCW 9.94A.140U) (1997) and RCW 9.94A.030(33) (1999)).