Dolan v. U.S.

The Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether a district court may enter a restitution order beyond a prescribed time limit.

The case concerns Brian Russell Dolan, who pleaded guilty to an assault resulting in serious bodily injury on the Mescalero Indian Reservation in southeastern New Mexico. On July 30, 2007, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico sentenced Dolan to 21 months' imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

At that same hearing, the court found it had "insufficient information" to determine the amount of restitution that Dolan owed and left the issue "open, pending the receipt of additional information," while informing the defendant that he should "anticipate that such an award will be made in the future."

On Feb. 4, 2008, the district court held a hearing on restitution. Dolan argued that the court no longer had the authority to order restitution because it had missed the deadline set forth in the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, which requires that the court "set a date for the final determination of the victim’s losses, not to exceed 90 days after sentencing."

On April 24, 2008, the district court entered a memorandum opinion and order in which the court concluded that it still had the authority to issue a restitution order, notwithstanding the expiration of the 90-day period. It ordered Dolan to pay restitution of $104,649.

In June 2009, a three-judge panel on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court order, holding that "a tardy restitution order is not an invalid one."

On Jan. 8, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

Question presented: Whether a district court decision to enter a restitution order beyond the ninety-day time limit prescribed in 18 U.S.C. § 3664(d)(5) must be vacated.