People v. Diermier, 531 N.W.2d 762 (Mich. Ct. App. 1995)

Cases | People v. Diermier, 531 N.W.2d 762 (Mich. Ct. App. 1995) | 2018

The defendant pled guilty to larceny in a building. The trial court sentenced her to a term of probation. It later amended the probation order to require that she pay $2000 to the county clerk for other uncharged thefts by way of restitution for the victim’s benefit. The defendant appealed, and the appellate court reversed the amended order on the ground that the prosecution failed to prove that no person other than the defendant could have taken the stolen money. The defendant never sought a stay of the amended order, and by the date of the court’s opinion she had fully paid the $2000. The defendant moved in the trial court for reimbursement of the $2000. The trial court denied the motion, finding that the county had simply acted as a conduit in channeling the defendant’s restitution payments to the victim, did not have the restitutional amount in its possession, and therefore had no statutory duty to refund it to the defendant. The defendant appealed. The appellate court agreed with the trial court that it would be unreasonable to require the county to reimburse the defendant for monies it paid that the county simply channeled to the victim. The statutes upon which the defendant relied could not reasonably be interpreted to require that result.