ID appeals court affirms restitution order

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Court of Appeals is upholding a lower court’s order of restitution, which included a $11,000 bill for an air ambulance, in a battery case.

The case stemmed from a 2017 altercation near Athol in which Arthur William Greydanus and his son were accused of hitting the alleged victim in the head with a stick and a baseball bat. The alleged victim was on the ground and unconscious by the time law enforcement arrived and had to be hospitalized, according to court documents.

Arthur Greydanus was charged with aggravated battery, a felony, but entered into a plea agreement which reduced the battery offense to a misdemeanor. His son also pleaded to a misdemeanor.

During a joint restitution hearing, an official from the Idaho Crime Victim Compensation Program testified that the alleged victim’s medical costs were paid by the state.

The alleged victim testified he had to be flown back to the hospital after being released for additional treatment, court records indicate.

The CVCP officer testified that the cost of a Life Flight Network helicopter was $11,047.97 and the full amount of restitution exceeded the statutory limit of $25,000. The state requested that the district court order Greydanus to pay $25,000 in restitution, prompting Greydanus to object to the Life Flight bill as “unnecessary”

“The district court granted the state’s request and awarded $25,000 to the CVCP, finding all of the losses the CVCP sustained, including the Life Flight expense, were directly attributable to Greydanus’ criminal conduct,” appellate Judge Amanda K. Brailsford in a six-page opinion released on Oct. 25.

Greydanus challenged Judge Barbara Buchanan’s restitution order as it related to the Life Flight expense. He argued anything could have happened between that night and the next day to cause the injury or cause the victim to be evacuated by air ambulance.

“Greydanus, however, offered no evidence of such an intervening, superseding cause. Indeed, Graydanus did not even cross-examine the victim to inquire why he was life-flighted,” Brailsford wrote.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.