A Logan County judge violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines when he ordered a defendant to pay a half million dollars even though there was no indication the man had the ability to pay, the state’s second-highest court has ruled.

Kevin R. Rowan pleaded guilty to the felony offense of criminal attempt to commit assault on an at-risk person. Prosecutors had originally charged him with the attempted murder of his father, Lloyd Rowan. In the victim’s telling, Kevin Rowan brutally beat and stomped on him, then rammed him off the road when the victim attempted to flee by vehicle.

Lloyd Rowan, who was 97 at the time, died prior to his son’s sentencing, although court filings were unclear about the degree to which Kevin Rowan’s attack contributed to his death.

Rowan’s plea agreement included a prison sentence of 16 years. After imposing the sentence, District Court Chief Judge Carl S. McGuire III indicated his displeasure with Rowan’s disavowal that he had done anything wrong.

“Given your – my review of your presentence investigation and your lack of willingness to accept responsibility and what can only be considered fanciful statements, at best, the Court will impose a $500,000 fine, as well,” McGuire said.

Rowan’s defense lawyer objected, telling McGuire that “obviously, Mr. Rowan will be indigent. The $500,000 fine is tantamount to an infinite fine, so I guess I would object under the grounds that he will be indigent and that it will disproportionately impact him.”

The judge responded that Rowan apparently had some “land that he may inherit.”

On appeal, Rowan argued that all indicators pointed to his inability to pay that large of a fine. He only had $6,000 in his checking account, worked on his father’s farm in Fleming for no salary, and estimated the value of the land he would receive from his father to be $12,000. It was not even a sure thing at the time of sentencing, Rowan added, that he would inherit anything.

He argued that the financial punishment violated the constitutional prohibition on excessive fines, as well as a similar provision in Colorado’s constitution.

The Colorado Attorney General’s Office countered that the assets within the family farm were valued at $68,000 and Rowan had the “ability to make payments toward the $500,000 fine.” The office did not specify how Rowan could pay the entirety of the amount.

A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals decided on Thursday that McGuire had no evidence before him about the actual value of Rowan’s inherited property, nor did he report any findings about Rowan’s financial condition.

“Most reported cases in Colorado do not contain a fine of this amount or close to it,” wrote Judge Daniel M. Taubman in the panel’s May 19 opinion.

The panel returned the case to McGuire, ordering him to determine a fine “that is proportional to Rowan’s financial circumstances.”

The case is People v. Rowan.