Thursday, October 27, 2016

People v. Aguilar (Cal. Ct. App. - Oct. 27, 2016)

This is a lengthy, published opinion that exclusively involves whether it really costs $475 -- the amount of the restitution order at issue -- to paint over a profane, 80 foot long, five-foot high piece of spray-painted graffiti on the wall of a childhood development center.

The Court of Appeal, along with the trial court, concluded that it was.  Reasonably, in my view.  (A snippet of the trial court's sentiment in this regard:  "There was extensive damage as shown, and the court will note that if you get anyone to paint anything nowadays, good luck getting anything under $500. I think it is perfectly reasonable, and there is a nexus. That will be the order.”)

It may also bear mention that I'm not sure exactly how much the Attorney General's office spent to defend the appeal, since (like graffiti removal) the relevant lawyers aren't paid on a piecemeal basis.  Nor do I know precisely how much defendant's court-appointed attorneys were paid for the appeal, or how it cost the non-piecework-paid justices to resolve this appeal in a published opinion.

But I bet it was a fair piece over $475.  Each.