Kendrick Hunt v. Commonwealth,
COA, 4/29/16, To Be Published,
The
COA held that Hunt is not required to pay $500 in restitution to the Pennyrile
Narcotics Task Force, because that agency was not a victim of his drug-dealing.
However he must pay court costs of $155 and jail fees of $2,668 within 8 months
of his release,
At sentencing Hunt was nineteen with no money and no job,
facing eight years in prison and with no job prospects. The only money ever in
his commissary account consisted of gifts from his parents, which he informed
the court had been spent prior to sentencing.
The COA held there was no error
in assessing court costs because despite his claim he had no money in his
commissary account, the trial court “did not find him to be a poor person” and
did find that Hunt would be able to earn money …after his release from prison,”
and the trial court said it would “work with” Hunt and grant extensions. As for
the $2,668 in jail fees, the trial court determined that Hunt would be able to
work while incarcerated and upon release to reimburse the jail fees.
Susan Balliet handled the appeal.
