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What You Should Know About Restitution When Charged With A Crime

13 December 2019

Norman Kelly

If you are currently being charged with a crime that affected other people, there is a chance that the court might give you several different punishments if you are convicted as guilty of the crime in question. One of the punishments you might receive from the charge is having to pay restitution. Restitution is not something all criminals must pay, but it is a common type of punishment when a crime caused pain and financial losses to victims, and here are several things you should know about restitution.

What It Is and Its Purpose

Restitution is money a court tells a convicted criminal that he or she must pay, and this money goes straight to the victims of the case. The purpose of having a criminal pay restitution is to try to make part of a bad situation right. It is designed to compensate victims for losses they suffered from the crime the person committed. While paying restitution does not eliminate the crime and pain that accompanied it, it can at least help in some ways.

Additionally, restitution is a punishment that holds a criminal accountable on a personal level for the crime he or she committed. When a convicted criminal is required to pay this, it basically teaches that person that if you do something wrong that affects others, there will be consequences to pay. Therefore, requiring a person to pay restitution can be a good learning experience for that person.

The Amount You May Have to Pay

The amount of money you might have to pay for restitution will depend on the factors and facts of the case. The first factor that matters is who was hurt by your crime. Anyone that was directly affected by the crime might be entitled to receive restitution. Secondly, the court will review the effects the crime had on a victim's life. If there were direct financial losses, those may be included in the amount. Pain and suffering can also be part of the restitution amount. If someone died as a result of the crime, the criminal may have to pay for the funeral expenses as well. There are a lot of factors that affect the amount of restitution the court requires.

Paying restitution is very common with criminal cases, and if this is a punishment you have, you must pay it. To learn more about facing your criminal charges, talk to a criminal defense attorney today.

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