By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//June 9, 2014//
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
Criminal
Sentencing – restitution — rule of abatement
A restitution order that is part of a criminal judgment does not survive when the defendant dies before his appeal can be resolved.
“The rule of abatement terminates criminal proceedings ab initio, ‘vacating the conviction entered against [the defendant].’ Moehlenkamp, 557 F.2d at 128; Logal, 106 F.3d at 1552 (‘Under the doctrine of abatement ab initio … the defendant stands as if he never had been indicted or convicted. The absence of a conviction precludes imposition of the restitution order against [defendant] or his estate pursuant to § 3663.’) (citation and quotation marks omitted). The fact that criminal restitution serves a compensatory purpose does not enable it to be imposed in the absence of a final conviction.”
Vacated.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Guzmán, J., Wood, J.