Beqiri v. State, 224 S.W.3d 575 (Ark. Ct. App. 2006)

Cases | Beqiri v. State, 224 S.W.3d 575 (Ark. Ct. App. 2006) | 2018

The defendant was convicted of passing a hot check in an amount greater than $2,500 and ordered, among other things, to make restitution. The defendant appealed, arguing that the trial judge erred in failing to require the State to prove in a restitution hearing the amount of restitution that he owed. The Court of Appeals of Arkansas, Division Four, reversed and remanded for the trial court to hold a restitution hearing. The court noted that Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-4-205(a)(3)(A) requires that the amount of restitution be determined by a preponderance of the evidence during the sentencing phase of a trial. In this case, no evidence was presented by the prosecutor. The prosecutor merely told the trial judge the incorrect amount of the dishonored check at issue, which did not constitute the necessary evidence to set the amount of restitution.