McClure v. State

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering the defendant to pay $6,470 in restitution based on the total fair market value of the copper wire, which she and her co-defendant admittedly stole from a wire configuring business.

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Anthony McClure and Minnie McClure pled guilty to an accusation charging them with theft by taking of copper wire. After a hearing, the trial court ordered the McClures, jointly and severally, to pay $6,470 as restitution to Flex Tec, the owner of the stolen wire. Minnie McClure appeals1 the restitution order, challenging the fair market value used in determining the award and, in the alternative, contending that the trial court should have awarded restitution in an amount not exceeding $1,668. We reject both arguments and affirm the judgment of restitution. “The sufficiency of evidence to support an order of restitution should be measured by the civil standard of preponderance of the evidence.”2 Under OCGA § 17-14-9, “the amount of restitution ordered shall not exceed the victim’s damages.”3 For this purpose, “determination of the amount of damages must be based upon fair market value, which must be determined exactly.”4 On review of a restitution order, the appellate court has the duty of “reviewing the transcript to determine whether each party has met his or her specified burden and determining whether a restitution award was supported by the preponderance of the evidence.”5

In two related enumerations of error, McClure challenges the trial court’s calculation of fair market value of the stolen goods, arguing that the McClures stole only scrap copper, rather than the more valuable copper wire; and that the copper stolen should be valued at the amount paid for it by the company that purchased the stolen wire from the McClures. She urges this Court to vacate the trial court’s restitution order and remand for a new evidentiary hearing; or, in the alternative, to reduce the restitution ordered to $1,668.

McClure v. State

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering the defendant to pay $6,470 in restitution based on the total fair market value of the copper wire, which she and her co-defendant admittedly stole from a wire configuring business.

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