Attorney General Opinions | 2011 Miss. AG LEXIS 225 | 2018
JIM HOOD, ATTORNEY GENERAL; James Y. Dale, Special Assistant Attorney General
Attorney General Jim Hood has received your request and has assigned it to me for research and reply. Your question concerns whether a person may plead guilty to a charge of petit larceny, stealing personal property of another under the value of $ 500.00, and yet make restitution of more than $ 500.00. Your letter states:
The affidavit filed by the victim alleges that the property is valued at less than $ 500. At arraignment on the charge the Defendant has indicated that he wants to plead guilty to the charge but the victim's restitution presented to the court by written estimates shows that the value of the property taken exceeds $ 500.00. The victim wants the court to order restitution in the case for the amount shown in the written estimates which is above $ 500.
ISSUE
Whether or not the court can award restitution to the victim in the case of misdemeanor petit larceny even though the restitution amount exceeds the statutory requirement for petit larceny (i,e., the restitution is above $ 500)?
RESPONSE
The value of the property is a question of fact to be determined by the court upon evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, the court could not orderrestitution for more than $ 500 for a plea of guilty of the charge of petit larceny. See Section 99-37-3 of the Mississippi Code which provides that, " determining whether to order restitution which may be complete, partial or nominal ... ." See also Section 99-37-1 (b) which provides that pecuniary damages includes the money equivalent of property taken. It does not authorize the court to order restitution above "complete" which would be the maximum value of the property for the crime plead to or convicted of. In other words, the court could not return a verdict of guilty to petit larceny based on the evidence and order restitution of $ 500 or more.