Cases | State v. Barnett, 3 A.2d 521 | 2018
The defendant pled nolo contendere to leaving the scene of an accident and was ordered to pay restitution as a condition of probation. The defendant failed to pay restitution and was sentenced to incarceration. On appeal, the defendant claimed that the trial court lacked power to impose the condition because there was no law upon which to base it and it violated public policy. The court held that the trial court lacked power to render or enforce the judgment because it was based on an illegal condition. The condition was not one of restitution in a proper sense of the word because damages that formed the basis of the condition did not result from the defendant’s failure to stop and render assistance. Jurisdiction that did not exist by law could not be conferred by consent.