CRIMINAL LAW
Supreme Court of Alaska (2024)
Rasa Kerelis
In State of Alaska v. Brennan Grubb 546 P.3d 586 (Alaska 2024), the Alaska supreme court held that the parent of a sexually abused minor was owed restitution accounting for her future lost wages and retirement benefits. (Id.). After Brennan Grubb sexually abused a minor, the victim’s mother resigned from her job to take care of her son who suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder. (Id. at 588–89). The superior court then ordered Grubb to pay restitution accounting for the mother’s future lost wages and benefits, but Grubb argued his criminal conduct was not the proximate cause of the losses and the court of appeals vacated. (Id.). The supreme court granted the State’s petition for hearing and remanded the case due to several key factors. (Id. at 586). Notably, the special nature of criminal cases and legislative intent maximizing restitution allowed a finding that the sexual abuse was a proximate cause of the mother’s future lost wages and benefits, and that the mother’s damages were reasonably quantifiable. (Id. at 593–94, 603). Over the last fifty years, the Alaska legislature has steadily expanded the rights of crime victims to obtain restitution. (Id. at 595). Because of the dependent nature of the parent-child relationship, when a minor child is the victim of a crime, the parent is also defined by statute as a “victim”. (Id. at 597). As such, it is foreseeable that parents would forgo opportunities to care for their child and the lower court appropriately found sufficient proximate cause for the mother’s damages. (Id. at 593, 601). Reversing the court of appeals decision, the supreme court remanded the case to address Grubb’s remaining challenges to the restitution award. (Id. at 603–04).
