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A SENTENCING COURT MAY REQUIRE A DEFENDANT, AS A CONDITION OF PROBATION, TO PAY FOR ELECTRONIC MONITORING, IF A DEFENDANT CLAIMS AN INABILITY TO PAY, A HEARING MUST BE HELD TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE TO INCARCERATION IS APPROPRIATE AND, IF NOT, THE DEFENDANT MAY BE SENTENCED TO PRISON (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Feinman, over a dissenting opinion, determined that the sentencing court, as a condition of probation, may require a defendant to pay for a Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) bracelet. Defendant, who had pled guilty to felony driving while intoxicated, made several monthly payments for the bracelet but then stopped paying and the monitoring company removed the bracelet. County Court then sentenced defendant to prison. The 3rd Department held that the sentence was illegal because the court cannot require a defendant to pay the cost of electronic monitoring:

Were we to hold that any monetary component of a condition that must be borne by a defendant per se invalidated said condition, sentencing courts would be divested of their broad authority to impose a myriad of probationary requirements, and consequently, would, in many instances, no longer view release into the community as a viable alternative to incarceration. In light of this, the requirement that defendant wear and pay for a SCRAM bracelet was well within County Court’s statutory authority under Penal Law § 65.10 (4).

This is not to say that requiring a defendant to wear and pay for an electronic monitoring device will always be reasonable. Courts cannot impose a condition of probation that includes costs a particular defendant cannot feasibly meet. Nor can courts incarcerate a defendant who has initially agreed to meet a condition requiring a payment, but who subsequently becomes unable to do so. * * *

… [I]f, at the imposition of the sentence or during the course of probation, a defendant asserts that they are unable to meet the financial obligations attendant to a certain condition, the sentencing court must hold a hearing on the matter … . The defendant must be given the opportunity to be heard in person, present witnesses, and offer documentary evidence establishing that they made sufficient bona fide efforts to pay … . If, after such inquiry, the sentencing court determines that the defendant has adequately demonstrated an inability to pay the costs associated with a particular condition despite bona fide efforts to do so, the court must attempt to fashion a reasonable alternative to incarceration … . Conversely, if the sentencing court determines, by a preponderance of the evidence … , that “a probationer has willfully refused to pay . . . when [that defendant] can pay, the [court] is justified in revoking probation and using imprisonment as an appropriate penalty for the offense” … . People v Hakes, 2018 NY Slip Op 08538, CtApp 12-13-18

 

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