Cases | State v. Lewis, 711 A.2d 669 | 2018
The defendant pled guilty to escape. As a condition of probation, he was ordered to pay restitution to the Department of Corrections for expenses incurred in his extradition. On appeal, the defendant claimed that: (1) the cost of extradition was a “cost of prosecution” and thus not taxable to him; (2) the award was not statutorily authorized because it exceeded the maximum fine allowable for a charge of escape, and the Department was not a “victim” and suffered no “material loss”; and (3) there was insufficient evidence to support the award. The court held that: (1) the Department’s extradition expenses were taxable costs of prosecution because its pecuniary damages resulted from the defendant’s purposeful attempt to evade the law. However, the holding was limited to the specific facts of the instant case where the defendant absconded from custody; (2) the award did not fail because it exceeded the maximum fine allowable for escape, as the legislature did not intend to limit damages based on the dollar amount in the charge. Further, the Department was the immediate and intended victim of the defendant’s criminal conduct and its financial injury involved an easily ascertainable sum that complied with statutory requirements; and (3) extradition costs are ordinarily easy to ascertain, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in the absence of specific claims of error. The defendant provided no evidence suggesting that the award was unreasonable.