Commonwealth v. Henry

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Defendant admitted to facts sufficient to warrant a finding of guilty to stealing the property of Walmart having a value of more than $250 pursuant to a single larcenous scheme. At a restitution hearing, the judge declared that Walmart’s loss was measured by the retail loss and ordered that Defendant pay $5,256 in restitution. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judge’s restitution order, holding (1) in determining whether to impose restitution and the amount of restitution, a judge must consider a defendant’s ability to pay, and in this case, the judge erred in failing to consider Defendant’s ability to pay in determining whether to order restitution and in determining the amount of restitution; and (2) in cases of retail theft, the amount of actual economic loss for purposes of restitution is the replacement value of the stolen goods unless the Commonwealth proves that the stolen goods would otherwise have been sold, in which case the retail sales value is the measure of actual loss, and in this case, the judge did not err in determining that the appropriate amount of Walmart’s actual loss was the aggregate retail price of the items stolen. Remanded. View "Commonwealth v. Henry" on Justia Law