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Originally Posted by MNoob
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Originally Posted by ResIpsaLoquitur
Quote:
Originally Posted by MNoob
It looks like the kid was ordered to pay restitution. I'll know more later today what exactly this means for us, but damn.  |
California will often require those ordered to pay restitution in a case such as yours to pay any out of pocket costs sustained by you associated with remediation, as well at least some portion of any increased insurance premiums you may face as a result of filing claims, and possibly diminished value of your vehicle if pursued by a zealous attorney. There are no hard and fast rules, however, and the fact finder (likely the judge in this case as I assume there was no jury trial) has a considerable amount of deference and latitude to set the terms and dollar amounts. An expert (in the legal sense, not colloquially) will likely be used to aid determining those amounts.
Glad to hear that all of your material possessions have been restored. Please keep us posted.
EDIT — Back to add some clarification. The types of restitution I described above are "direct orders of restitution." There also exists "restitution fines." These are essentially what punitive damages against the defendant would be had there been a trial. Again, depending on the judge, the defendant may be ordered to pay these as well. The court generally has minimal discretion to not require the defendant to pay restitution fines, regardless of the crime committed or sentence (if any) imposed, but does have discretion in determining the amounts.
Did you retain counsel regarding this matter? |
No, didn't even know the outcome until I did some snooping. We were never contacted during the process. |
You may be contacted to aid in determining any amount for direct order of restitution if the judge orders it. Sometimes, they order it of their own volition. Often times however, some input from the aggrieved party is required. It would be highly recommended to retain counsel if you're seeking such restitution. If the amount is determined to be lower, and then you need more, you may not be able to secure it through restitution.
You would likely not be contacted in regards to determining restitution fines as those are fines for the defendant to "pay society" for his acts.
Though as a general matter there is no statute of limitations on restitution in California, if the desired amount by the aggrieved party is not determined when initially determining the amount, the aggrieved party will be unable to seek further monies further down the road, absent a circumstance where there was information unknown to the aggrieved party at that the time, that later surfaces that could not have been known initially; i.e., your damaged load bearing wall is fixed, but six months later it's determined that your roof is leaking as proximate result of the damage, and you now need additional funds to fix that damage and cannot secure those funds from your insurance company for whatever reason.