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In re C.T.3/15/2001
Justice Castillo
The State charged appellant, a juvenile, with committing delinquent conduct. After appellant pled "no contest," the juvenile court found that she had engaged in delinquent conduct and, after a disposition hearing, placed appellant on probation for a period of seven months. As a condition of that probation, the court ordered that appellant pay restitution in the amount of $2000.00. Appellant complains in a single issue that the juvenile court abused its discretion in ordering the payment of restitution. We affirm.
Factual Background and Procedural History
C.T., a juvenile, was charged with failure to stop and give information after being involved in a three-vehicle accident and fleeing the scene. Appellant pled "no contest" to the charge but protested the State's request for restitution for the damages sustained by one of the other vehicles involved in the accident. The juvenile court, after a hearing on the question of restitution, ordered appellant to pay the owner $2000.00 in restitution at the rate of $500.00 a month. Appellant appeals the judgment, contending that the damages sustained by the other vehicle arose out of the accident, not the failure to stop and give information, and were therefore not causally connected to the offense for which appellant was adjudicated. Appellant raises no issue on appeal as to the amount of restitution ordered but, rather, argues that without a causal connection between the offense and the damage, the juvenile court could not order any restitution. Appellant cites a single authority, In the Matter of D.S., a Juvenile, 921 S.W.2d 860 (Tex.App.- San Antonio 1996, no writ), in support of this position and asks this Court to vacate the juvenile court's order of restitution.
Restitution
The sole issue for our review is whether the juvenile court erred in ordering appellant to pay restitution in this case. Whether to order restitution is within the sound discretion of a trial court and so is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. Cartwright v. State, 605 S.W.2d 287, 289 (Tex. Crim. App. 1980).
The Texas Family Code provides that a juvenile court, after due notice to affected persons and a hearing, may order a child, or the parent of a child, to make full or partial restitution to the victim of an offense when the child has been found to have engaged in delinquent conduct arising from the commission of an offense in which property damage or personal injury occurred. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ยง54.041(b)(Vernon Supp. 2001).
Appellant argues that in the present case, the trial court improperly ordered restitution because no offense was committed in which property damage occurred. It is appellant's contention that the property damage occurred as a result of the accident, not the offense of failure to stop and leave information. Appellant also argues that In the Matter of D.S. provides that restitution may only be ordered where the damage was occasioned by the offense.
In the Matter of D.S. involved a trial court order requiring a juvenile who was originally charged with burglary of a habitation, but actually adjudicated guilty of a criminal trespass, to pay restitution to the victim of the originally charged burglary. In the Matter of D.S., 921 S.W.2d at 861. The reviewing court reversed the order, finding that the property loss was not occasioned by the offense of criminal trespass. Id. The D.S. court reviewed several adult criminal cases in making its decision, holding that although juvenile proceedings are civil proceedings, they are quasi-criminal in nature and so it is appropriate to look to criminal cases for guidance in resolving issues on appeal.
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