State v. Stephenson, 706 So.2d 604 (La. Ct. App. 1998)

Cases | State v. Stephenson, 706 So.2d 604 (La. Ct. App. 1998) | 2018

The defendant was charged with two counts of misapplication of payments by a contractor. The defendant pled nolo contendere to count one and agreed to pay restitution to the victims in counts one and two, in addition to another victim for whom the State had not filed charges. The trial court ordered restitution to the three victims. The defendant appealed. The appellate court held that: (1) the trial court did not abuse its discretion by using the defendant’s verified bank records and a lien amount as the basis of accounting figures used to determine restitution; (2) restitution was not excessive because it merely represented the amount of actual pecuniary loss suffered by the victims; (3) the case was remanded to trial court for the purpose of determining the method of restitution payments; (4) the trial did not err in ordering the defendant to pay restitution to the victim for whom the State did not file charges because the defendant agreed that he would pay restitution to all three victims and the trial court approved the plea agreement; and (5) restitution ordered to the victim for whom the State did not file charges was reduced because evidence did not support the amount of the award.