State v. Collins, 166 P.3d 480 (N.M. Ct. App. 2007)

Cases | State v. Collins, 166 P.3d 480 (N.M. Ct. App. 2007) | 2018

The defendant opened an osteopathic clinic financed by some of his patients; thirty-nine of these patients challenged a subsequent bankruptcy action filed by the defendant. The defendant’s debts were discharged once the bankruptcy court held that the defendant had not misrepresented his financial condition to the patients. Meanwhile, criminal charges were filed and the defendant was convicted of multiple counts of securities fraud and the sale of unregistered securities; the defendant was ordered to pay restitution as a condition of probation. On appeal, the defendant argued that the court’s restitution order was improper because the debts in question had been discharged by the bankruptcy court. The court of appeals disagreed, holding that the filing of bankruptcy did not void a restitution order imposed as a condition of probation under a state criminal judgment. The sentence and convictions were affirmed.