Cases | State v. Clark, 636 N.W.2d 660 (N.D. 2001 | 2018
The defendant pled guilty to theft of property. The trial court suspended the sentence and placed the defendant on probation with restitution as a condition. The State sought to revoke probation on the basis that the defendant failed to pay adequate restitution. The trial court did not revoke probation but ordered that the original criminal judgment be amended to add that the restitution payment could not be less than $300 per month. The defendant appealed, claiming that the trial court abused its discretion in setting payments at $300 per month and that her Equal Protection rights under the state and federal constitutions was violated because she was unable to pay the monthly amount. The supreme court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion or violate the defendant’s Equal Protection rights by setting restitution payments at $300 per month. The defendant did not carry her burden of demonstrating an abuse of discretion because she failed to provide a transcript of the revocation hearing. Further, it was not necessary for the trial court to find that the defendant willfully failed to make restitution payments because it modified rather than revoked her probation.