Cain

At issue in this case is the scope of a criminal defendant’s due process rights at a hearing to determine the amount of restitution to be made to the victim by the defendant pursuant to Penal Code section 273.5, subdivision (h)(2). More specifically, does a criminal defendant have a constitutional right to call and cross-examine the psychotherapist who provides counseling to the victim of the defendant’s crime? We answer this question in the negative.

Defendant Randy Lee Cain pled no contest to a single count of violation of section 273.5 (infliction of corporal injury on a spouse) and was placed on probation. As one of the conditions of his probation, defendant was ordered to pay $1,890.75 to the State Board of Control (hereafter, the Board) to reimburse the Board for payment of counseling fees on behalf of defendant’s wife (hereafter, the victim). On appeal, defendant challenges the court’s restitution order on the grounds that (1) defendant was denied his constitutional rights at the hearing to determine the amount of restitution, and (2) the prosecution failed to present any evidence that counseling received by the victim was directly related to defendant’s criminal…