Cases | 2005-Ohio-1240(Ohio Ct. App. 2005) | 2018
The defendant was convicted of improper backing in connection with a car accident and was ordered to pay restitution of $2,000 for damage to the victim’s truck. The victim settled with the defendant’s insurance company and received $2,000 (half the truck’s value) and was allowed to keep his totaled truck for salvage. The defendant appealed, arguing the victim had waived his right to restitution as part of the settlement with the insurance company and the amount ordered was not supported by evidence. The appellate court held that restitution was proper for victims who had been partially reimbursed for loss by third parties, like insurance companies, but only if the defendant is credited for the amounts received by the victim from other sources. The insurance company valued the victim’s loss to be $4,000 and paid $2,000 and allowed the victim to keep the totaled truck. The difference between the loss of $4,000 and the payment to the victim was properly ordered as restitution. The trial court failed, however, to assign any salvage value to the truck when it ordered the defendant to pay the $2,000 difference and the defendant should be credited for that value against the amount ordered. The order of restitution was remanded for determination of the truck’s salvage value.