State v. Baker, 626 N.W.2d 862 (Wis. Ct. App. 2001)

Cases | State v. Baker, 626 N.W.2d 862 (Wis. Ct. App. 2001) | 2018

The defendant was convicted of sexual assault of a child. The trial court ordered him to pay restitution to the Vernon County Department of Human Services (“DHS”), and ordered that the restitution be withheld from any prison wages the defendant earned. The defendant appealed. The Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, District Four, affirmed the restitution order. The court found that after the defendant sexually assaulted the minor victim, she underwent a medical examination, pregnancy testing and sexually transmitted disease testing at a hospital. The Vernon County DHS paid $104.37 for the minor’s hospital expenses. The court noted that state statute permits the payment of restitution to a third party rather than the victim of crime. Based on the plain language of the statute, the nature of the social welfare program that provided benefits to the victim, and the State and county’s right to subrogation under state law, the victim was not required to present evidence of the government’s obligation to pay for the health care services provided to her, or of its subrogation relationship. Thus, the trial court properly ordered the defendant to pay restitution directly to the Vernon County DHS. Furthermore, state statute gave the trial court the authority to order that the restitution be disbursed from any wages earned by the defendant while in prison.