Criminal Restitution

In the recent case of State v. Daniel Bent, (N.H. Slip 01/27/2012), the New Hampshire Supreme Court vacated a trial court’s ruling that it was bound by a restitution figure set by the Department of Corrections, and remanded for a new hearing. Citing RSA 651:64, the Court held that only the trial court has the authority to set an amount of restitution. The Supremes also directed the trial court on remand to determine whether the award would result in an impermissible double recovery contrary to RSA 651:63 which precludes a victim for being compensated more than once for the same injury. See also, State v. Burr, 147 N.H. 102 (2001). The victim in Bent had filed a civil suit against the defendant and a settlement was reached out of court.

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