Donations made to a victim’s crowdfunding page do not necessarily reduce the defendant’s obligation to pay crime victim restitution, Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Thursday.
Under state law, crime victim compensation boards reimburse victims for certain monetary losses, including funeral costs, medical expenditures, and property damage. Prosecutors may, in turn, seek restitution payments from the defendant whose conduct caused the losses.
However, the boards can deduct from their payments any money that the victim receives directly from the defendant, from the state or federal government, and from “a private source.”…