Teague v. People & People v. Rogers

1 Opinions of the Colorado Supreme Court are available to the
2 public and can be accessed through the Judicial Branch’s homepage at
3 http://www.courts.state.co.us. Opinions are also posted on the
4 Colorado Bar Association’s homepage at http://www.cobar.org.
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6 ADVANCE SHEET HEADNOTE
7 June 5, 2017
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9 2017 CO 660
1 Nos. 14SC31 & 14SC858, Teague v. People & People v. Rogers — Criminal Law —
2 Sentencing and Punishment — Costs Taxable Against Defendant.
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4 In this combined opinion, the supreme court addresses whether sexual offenders
5 must shoulder the cost of their victims’ forensic medical examinations as criminal
6 restitution. By statute, such restitution may include “extraordinary direct public . . .
7 investigative costs.” The court therefore considers whether the cost of a sexual assault
8 nurse examiner (SANE) examination is “extraordinary” for purposes of the statute. As
9 both a medical and investigative response to a sexual offense, these examinations
0 necessarily perform dual roles. The supreme court concludes that the hybrid nature of
1 these exams renders them, and their resulting costs, extraordinary. It further concludes
2 the state may therefore recover those costs as restitution.
1 The Supreme Court of the State of Colorado
2 2 East 14th Avenue • Denver, Colorado 80203
3 2017 CO 664 Supreme Court Case No. 14SC31
5 Certiorari to the Colorado Court of Appeals
6 Court of Appeals Case No. 10CA2358
7 Petitioner:
8 Adam Michael Teague,
9 v.
0 Respondent:
1 The People of the State of Colorado.
2 Judgment Affirmed
3 en banc
4 June 5, 2017
5 *****
6 Supreme Court Case No. 14SC858
7 Certiorari to the Colorado Court of Appeals
8 Court of Appeals Case No. 11CA1934
9 Petitioner:
0 The People of the State of Colorado,
1 v.
2 Respondent:
3 Bobby Nicky Rogers.
4 Judgment Reversed
5 en banc
6 June 5, 2017
7 Attorneys for Petitioner Adam Michael Teague:
8 Douglas K. Wilson, Public Defender
9 Andrew C. Heher, Deputy Public Defender
0 Denver, Colorado
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1 Attorneys for Petitioner/Respondent The People of the State of Colorado:
2 Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General
3 Christine Brady, Senior Assistant Attorney General
4 Denver, Colorado
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6 Attorneys for Respondent Bobby Nicky Rogers:
7 Douglas K. Wilson, Public Defender
8 Meghan M. Morris, Deputy Public Defender
9 Denver, Colorado
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1 Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Office of the District Attorney, Eighteenth Judicial
2 District:
3 George H. Brauchler, District Attorney, Eighteenth Judicial District
4 Richard H. Orman, Chief Deputy District Attorney
5 Centennial, Colorado
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3 JUSTICE HOOD delivered the Opinion of the Court.
4 JUSTICE GABRIEL does not participate.
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¶1 We granted certiorari in these cases to determine whether sexual offenders must
shoulder the cost of their victims’ forensic medical examinations as criminal restitution.
While the General Assembly has authorized recovery of “extraordinary direct public . . .
investigative costs,” divisions of our court of appeals have disagreed as to whether the
cost of a victim’s SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) examination is in fact
“extraordinary.” We now conclude it is.
¶2 As both a medical and investigative response to a sexual offense, a SANE exam
necessarily performs dual roles. It functions not only as a valuable tool for collecting
sexual-assault evidence but also as a patient-centered medical procedure that is
sensitive to victims’ treatment needs, conducted by medical personnel, and limited to
the scope of victims’ informed consent. We conclude the hybrid nature of these exams
renders them, and their resulting costs, extraordinary, and the state may recover those
costs as restitution. We thus affirm the judgment of the court of appeals in People v.
Teague, No. 10CA2358 (Colo. App. Nov. 27, 2013) (not published pursuant to C.A.R.
35(f)), and reverse the judgment of the court of appeals in People v. Rogers, 2014 COA
110, __ P.3d __. Accordingly, we also reinstate the district court’s restitution award in
Rogers.
I. Facts and Procedural History
¶3 This opinion consolidates two unrelated sexual assault cases. In El Paso County
District Court Case No. 09CR1165, the People alleged that Adam Michael Teague
sexually assaulted the victim while she was asleep. During a police interview, Teague
denied any sexual contact with the victim, yet the morning following that denial, a
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SANE exam of the victim revealed possible sexual activity. The People then charged
Teague with sexual assault, and he later pled guilty to a misdemeanor offense resulting
in probation.
¶4 In Arapahoe County District Court Case No. 09CR2049, the People alleged that
Bobby Nicky Rogers offered the victim a ride in his car, drove her behind a building,
and forced her, at knifepoint, to perform oral sex on him. The victim reported the
assault, received a SANE exam, and later identified Rogers as her assailant. He later
pled guilty to attempted sexual assault in return for a stipulated four-year term of sex
offender intensive supervised probation.
¶5 The People in both cases sought to recover the costs of the SANE exams as
restitution under sections 18-1.3-601 to -603, C.R.S. (2016). Teague and Rogers objected,
and the trial court in each case awarded the People the requested cost of the exam,
totaling $702.27 to be paid to the Colorado Springs Police Department in Teague’s case
and $500.00 to be paid to the Aurora Police Department in Rogers’s.
¶6 Teague and Rogers appealed, each of them arguing that the expense of a SANE
exam is not an “extraordinary direct public . . . investigative cost[]” as described in
section 18-1.3-602(3)(b)1 and recoverable under section 18-1.3-603. In an unpublished
opinion, the division hearing Teague’s appeal affirmed the restitution award. Teague,
slip op. at 8. Beginning from a dictionary definition of “extraordinary,” the division
1 The legislature has since amended section 18-1.3-602 to define restitution as including
some medical and health benefits, § 18-1.3-602(3)(d), but the language at issue here has
remained intact. And because the offenses in these cases predated that amendment, we
need not construe the new provision.
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concluded that the cost of a SANE exam satisfies the statute. Id. at 4–6. It reasoned that
(1) the exams require medical professionals, not law enforcement personnel, to collect
evidence, and (2) other statutes had defined extraordinary costs to include otherwise
common expenses. Id. The division in Rogers’s case reached the opposite result.
Rogers, ¶ 18. Operating from the same definition used in Teague, the division in
Rogers concluded SANE exams do not create extraordinary costs because law
enforcement typically uses them to gather evidence. Id. at ¶¶ 16–18.
¶7 Teague and the People each sought our review of the decisions against them, and
we granted certiorari in both cases.2
II. Standard of Review and Rules of Statutory Interpretation
¶8 The issue presented requires us to interpret the term “extraordinary,” and this
court reviews such questions of statutory construction de novo, People v.
Padilla-Lopez, 2012 CO 49, ¶ 7, 279 P.3d 651, 653. In construing a statute, we aim to
give effect to the General Assembly’s purpose in enacting it. Dubois v. People, 211 P.3d
41, 43 (Colo. 2009). To do so, we accord statutory words and phrases their plain and
ordinary meanings. Padilla-Lopez, ¶ 7, 279 P.3d at 653. When the language of the
statute is clear and we can discern the legislative intent with certainty, we need not
resort to other tools of statutory interpretation. Dubois, 211 P.3d at 43.
2 We granted certiorari to review essentially the same issue from both cases. As
reframed in Teague, that issue is as follows:
Whether the cost of a sexual assault nurse examiner (“SANE”) exam is
subject to restitution as an “extraordinary direct public . . . investigative
cost” under section 18-1.3-602(3)(b), C.R.S. (2014).
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III. Analysis
¶9 The parties in these cases have raised various arguments for and against
restitution, but at bottom they ask a straightforward question: is the expense of a SANE
exam an extraordinary direct public investigative cost? We answer in three parts. First,
we supply some background on the SANE exam itself, outlining its functions and
components. Second, we turn to the statute and apply its language to SANE exams as
described. Third, we determine that the expenses associated with those exams are in
fact an extraordinary direct public investigative cost and conclude the state is entitled to
recover them.
A. SANE Examinations Necessarily Serve a Dual Purpose
¶10 The SANE examination process consists of multiple steps, some of them
evidentiary and some of them medical in nature. Whatever the function of a given step,
however, medical personnel oversee that process in its entirety, from providing care to
(potentially) testifying in a resulting case.
¶11 At the outset, initial responders, who may not be examiners themselves, must
evaluate and respond to any serious or life-threatening injuries while also attempting to
maximize evidence preservation. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Office on Violence Against
Women, NCJ 228119, A National Protocol for Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations
Adults/Adolescents 8–9 (2d ed. 2013), https://perma.cc/P3WF-ZTW6. From there,
examiners turn to evidentiary concerns within the scope of the victim’s informed
consent, documenting the victim’s forensic medical history, taking photographs, and
collecting and documenting physical evidence. Id. at 9–10. The examiner may also
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explore the victim’s concerns about sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy,
encouraging testing and counseling as needed. Id. at 10. Finally, before discharge,
health care personnel may need to coordinate both follow-up care and activities
requiring law enforcement involvement. Id. at 11.
¶12 As this overview suggests, a SANE examination serves not only as an
evidence-gathering tool for law enforcement but also as a source of comprehensive care
for victims. The U.S. Department of Justice report detailing the protocol for conducting
SANE exams has summarized those dual functions, noting first that “[a] timely,
high-quality medical forensic examination can potentially validate and address sexual
assault patients’ concerns, minimize the trauma they may experience, and promote their
healing.” Id. at 4 (footnote omitted). The report continues, “At the same time, [a SANE
exam] can increase the likelihood that evidence collected will aid in criminal case
investigation, resulting in perpetrators being held accountable and further sexual
violence prevented.” Id.
¶13 Our court of appeals has made a similar observation regarding the exams’ dual
roles. In People v. Montanez, the court noted that “A SANE ‘is responsible for
completing the entire sexual assault evidentiary exam including crisis intervention, STD
prevention, pregnancy risk evaluation and interception, collection of forensic evidence,
and referrals for additional support and care.’” 2012 COA 101, ¶ 17, 300 P.3d 940, 943
(quoting U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime,
NCJ 170609, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Development and Operation Guide 11,
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https://perma.cc/9B5S-P4LM).3 The dual nature of the exams has also supported the
court of appeals’ conclusion that a victim’s statement to a SANE can constitute a
statement made for the purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment under C.R.E. 803(4).
See People v. Tyme, 2013 COA 59, ¶¶ 9, 16–17, 315 P.3d 1270, 1272–73 (noting
statements made to a SANE for treatment purposes may be admissible but those made
for purely investigative purposes may not be). We, too, conclude that SANE exams at
once serve both investigative and medical purposes.
B. SANE Examination Expenses are Extraordinary Direct Public
Investigative Costs
¶14 Colorado law requires courts entering an order of conviction to consider
restitution. § 18-1.3-603. In setting that requirement, the legislature has determined
that offenders bear “a moral and legal obligation to make full restitution to those
harmed by their misconduct” and has found that restitution encourages offenders’
rehabilitation and deters future criminality. § 18-1.3-601(1)(b)–(d). As to what
constitutes a cost eligible for restitution, we have held that, typically, the legislature
must specify the law enforcement costs it intends to be recoverable. Dubois, 211 P.3d at
46. It has done so here. The General Assembly has outlined various costs qualifying as
restitution, explaining that the term may also encompass “extraordinary direct public
and all private investigative costs.” § 18-1.3-602(3)(b).
3 We are aware that the division in Montanez, ¶ 22, 300 P.3d at 944, pointed to section
18-3-407.5, C.R.S. (2016), as obligating law enforcement to pay for a SANE exam at a
victim’s request, yet that statute merely identifies the party required to pay in the first
instance. It does not speak to whether law enforcement may then seek to recover its
costs. See § 18-3-407.5(1), (3)(b). To the extent Montanez suggests law enforcement
alone must bear those costs, we overrule it.
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¶15 The statute does not further define the term extraordinary, however, so we must
now interpret and apply that term. Because we accord words their ordinary meanings
before turning to additional tools of statutory interpretation, Dubois, 211 P.3d at 43, we
look first to the definition of the word extraordinary. In common usage, that term
means “more than ordinary,” “not of the ordinary order or pattern,” and “going
beyond what is usual, regular, common, or customary.” Extraordinary, Webster’s Third
New International Dictionary (2002).
¶16 Applying that definition, we conclude SANE examinations, and by extension,
their costs, are extraordinary. The hybrid nature of those examinations compels our
conclusion. Although medical personnel may perform blood draws, autopsies, and the
like, we consider it “beyond what is usual” for them to play such a large role in the
investigative process while remaining sensitive to the treatment needs and dignity of
patients who have just experienced traumatizing events. Sexual offenses require them
to perform both functions at once—preserving evidence while stabilizing, documenting
as well as counseling, collecting evidence without breaching a victim’s informed
consent. And even after the exam ends, the examiner must remain ready to testify.
This dual nature, in our view, separates SANE exams from more workaday
investigative processes and renders them not simply extraordinary, but unique. To be
clear, we reach this conclusion based on the unique nature of the exam at issue here, not
the nature of the crime or the frequency with which police are called upon to investigate
that crime.
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¶17 The cost of SANE exams is therefore recoverable as restitution under section
18-1.3-602(3)(b).
IV. Conclusion
¶18 As both a medical and investigative response to a sexual offense, a SANE exam
necessarily performs dual roles. It functions not only as a valuable tool for collecting
sexual-assault evidence but also as a patient-centered medical procedure that is
sensitive to victims’ treatment needs, conducted by medical personnel, and limited to
the scope of victims’ informed consent. We conclude the hybrid nature of these exams
renders them, and their resulting costs, extraordinary, and the state may recover those
costs as restitution. We thus affirm the judgment of the court of appeals in Teague and
reverse the judgment of the court of appeals in Rogers. Accordingly, we also reinstate
the district court’s restitution award in Rogers.
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