Doe v. USDC-NVL

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3663(a)(3) "grants statutory authority to district courts to award restitution whenever a defendant agrees in a plea agreement to pay restitution." U. S. v. McAninch, 994 F.2d 1380, 1384 n.4 (9th Cir. 1993).

Petitioner, a sex trafficking victim, filed a writ of mandamus under 18 U.S.C. § 3771(d)(3), a provision of the Crime Victims' Rights Act, and assigned legal error to the district court's denial of restitution which Defendant agreed to pay Petitioner in a negotiated plea agreement.  Defendant argued, and the district court agreed, that the court lacked authority to order restitution under terms of the plea agreement because he did not commit statutory offenses that are subject to orders of restitution.  The district court rejected the government's claim that the plea agreement established sufficient grounds for the court to order restitution. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3663(a)(3) "grants statutory authority to district courts to award restitution whenever a defendant agrees in a plea agreement to pay restitution."  U. S. v. McAninch, 994 F.2d 1380, 1384 n.4 (9th Cir. 1993). The Court found that the plain meaning of § 3663(a)(3) text, and subsequent binding precedent, gives district courts the statutory authority to order restitution "in any criminal case to the extent agreed to by the parties to a plea agreement." PETITION GRANTED.