Cases | In re Delric H., 819 A.2d 1117 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2003) | 2018
The juvenile defendant admitted to having committed a second degree assault on another juvenile when he chased, punched, and then body slammed the victim. As a result, the victim lost four of his teeth and had numerous facial and dental injuries. The defendant was adjudicated a delinquent and placed on supervised probation. After a restitution hearing in which the defendant’s mother testified that she was a single parent of four sons, the court ordered the defendant and his mother jointly and severally liable for $6,693.89 in restitution to the victim, payable in monthly installments of $50. On appeal, the defendant argued that the juvenile court erred in admitting evidence that did not satisfy the rules of evidence and that the court abused its discretion in ordering restitution because he and his mother testified to their inability to pay. The intermediate court found that even though a court may not require a strict application of evidentiary rules, the party offering the evidence must still satisfy the inherent reliability/credibility requirement, and therefore, held that the juvenile court had discretion to decline strict application of the rules of evidence in a restitution hearing. It also reviewed the record and held that the juvenile court conducted a reasoned inquiry into the ability to pay and found no abuse of discretion. The judgment was affirmed.