State v. Gagne

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order to enforce payment of restitution entered by the superior court following a hearing on a motion to enforce payment of a restitution obligation originally imposed as part of a sentence, holding that the motion court erred in imposing the burden on Defendant to prove the current balance of the court-ordered restitution for the victim’s uncompensated losses.Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held that the State never met the burden assigned to it in State v. Nelson, 994 A.2d 808 (Me. 2010), and State v. Berube, 698 A.2d 509 (Me. 1997), to determine the amount of the victim’s loss, payments credited to cover that loss, an thus the remaining sum that Defendant should have been obligated to pay in restitution. Because the State did not meet its burden to establish the amount still owed when it filed its motion to enforce the restitution obligation, the Supreme Judicial Court remanded for a new hearing on the enforcement of the restitution obligation with the State having the burden to prove the restitution obligation remaining. View "State v. Gagne" on Justia Law