Restitution

The concept behind restitution is that criminal defendants who have been found guilty of an offense compensate the victims of their crimes for any losses they might have incurred as a result of that crime. These payments can be monetary compensation for injuries, medical expenses, loss of property, insurance co-payments, etc. You often have to make these payments or face being dragged back into court for further punishment. Not making these payments is a violation of a court order and thus is another criminal issue. This explanation sets the groundwork for our next set of cases.

I had a felony docket Monday that was full of people who had issues paying restitution. These people were getting dragged back into court by the prosecutor for failure to pay. These payments are monitored by the prosecutors to ensure defendants compliance.

Defendant 1-Never paid any restitution since January of 2007. Had already been locked up for failure to pay. Ended up getting yelled at by the judge for not paying. Got another felony charge and owed restitution for that as well. The judge put him back on a payment plan and gave him jail time for contempt of court. Saddest part of this was the guy could not keep up because he kept getting more charges, getting incarcerated, and ended up owing more restitution.

Defendant 2-Owed money for restitution for a burglary/breaking and entering case. Was in court on another larceny charge. Told the judge he made so much money but yet had made minimal restitution payments. He told the judge his money went to his parents boat payment because "he was going to be a professional wake boarder." The judge yelled at him too. The parents caught the judge's wrath as well. They knew the kid owed restitution and were cool with him making boat payments, cell phone payments, etc. The defendant ended up getting a court date in 30 days to ensure he was making correct payments. Is there even a market for professional wake boarding?

Defendant 3-A young woman who had committed property damage to the point that it became a felony. She was behind in restitution payments and told the judge that no one in the area was hiring. The judge, once again, yelled at this defendant. The judge then put her under a court order to have a job, make restitution payments, and return to court in November to ensure all of that as done. If not, then jail time would be imposed. Ouch.

Word to the wise-If you are going to do the crime, make sure you can PAY the fines (or in this case, restitution)! :)