People v. Wright, 18 P.3d 816 (Colo. Ct. App. 2000)

Cases | People v. Wright, 18 P.3d 816 (Colo. Ct. App. 2000) | 2018

Defendant pled guilty to theft and agreed to pay restitution to a secured creditor. The trial court later concluded that legal expenses incurred in filing a replevin action were the direct result of defendant’s criminal conduct of pawning the property in which the victim had a security interest, and amended its order to reflect $3302.25 instead of $2336. On appeal, defendant claimed that: (1) the trial court erred by ordering him to pay restitution to the secured party; (2) the trial court erred in awarding the expenses as restitution because the victim was already awarded expenses as damages in the replevin case; and (3) the trial court violated his right to be free from double jeopardy by amending its original restitution order and increasing the amount of restitution owed. The appellate court held that: (1) the expenses incurred by the victim in attempting to recover his collateral were properly awarded as restitution because they were the direct result of defendant's fraudulent act of selling the collateral; (2) there was no evidence that defendant actually paid all, or any part, of the civil judgment; and (3) the amended order increasing the amount awarded must be vacated because it violated defendant's right to be free from double jeopardy.