SANDRA K. BOULAIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Sandra Boulais appealed a restitution order totaling $29,276.26 imposed after her nolo contendere plea to grand theft for stealing from her employer, Henry Chiropractic Clinic. The appellate court affirmed most of the restitution award but reversed the $5,000 award for private investigation services as duplicative and unsupported by competent evidence.
Reasonable investigative costs are a proper item for restitution under Florida law, but they must be proved by a preponderance of the evidence based on competent evidence rather than speculation. The restitution award was affirmed except for the $5,000 private investigation fee, which was reversed as duplicative and unreasonable after the crime had already been discovered and documented.
[1] Restitution may be ordered for reasonable investigative costs incurred by a victim, provided such costs are proven by a preponderance of the evidence.
[2] A defendant may not be required to pay restitution in an amount exceeding the damages directly or indirectly caused by their criminal conduct.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“reasonable investigative costs are a proper item for restitution. Reasonable investigative costs, the court explained, are those investigative costs proved by a preponderance of the evidence.”
Establishes that investigative costs are recoverable as restitution but must meet an evidentiary standard
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBoulais was employed as a bookkeeper at Henry Chiropractic Clinic and stole $17,516 in cash from the business over three years. The clinic incurred va…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Grand Theft cases and more on FLexlaw
LAWRENCE, Judge.
Sandra K. Boulais (Boulais) appeals from an order of restitution imposed by the trial court as reimbursement for investigative and other costs incurred by Boulais’ employer, Henry Chiropractic Clinic. Boulais, who had been employed by the clinic as a bookkeeper, pleaded nolo contendere to grand theft.1 The trial court awarded the total sum of $29,276.26 to the victim as restitution. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
Mrs. Henry, the co-owner of the clinic, testified in support of, and the trial court awarded: $17,516 in cash payments stolen from the business; $695.26 for the services of Saltmarsh Certified Public Accountants; $2600 for the services of Creel, Bryan, and Gallagher, Certified Public Accountants, to conduct a fraud investigation; $1644 for a credit card investigation performed by Med-forms; $550 to hire a bookkeeper to sort out the fraudulent charges; $1000 to hire an office worker to help find and reorganize patient files which had been lost in relation to the theft; $150 to change locks; $50 to copy documents; $50 for call-tracing fees; and $5000 for a contract with a private investigation company, Emerald Coast Investigations.
Section 775.089, Florida Statutes (1995), requires a criminal defendant to make restitution to the victim of a crime for damage or loss caused directly or indirectly by the defendant’s offense. In Glaubius v. State, 688 So. 2d 913 (Fla.1997), the Florida Supreme Court held that reasonable investigative costs are a proper item for restitution. Reasonable investigative costs, the court explained, are those investigative costs proved by a preponderance of the evidence. Specifically, the State has the burden to establish the amount of investigative costs “based on competent evidence” rather than on the “mere speculation” of the victims or other witnesses.. Id. at 916.
The Glaubius court did not expressly limit the amount of investigative costs for which a victim could be reimbursed. However, a reasonable limit on reimbursement is implied by the court’s admonition that a defendant should not be required to “pay a sum in excess of the amount of dam-' ages his criminal conduct caused the victim.” Id. Boulais’ criminal conduct in the instant case resulted in the need to hire an accounting firm to discover and document the crime. The evidence also shows that an insurance adjuster was required to aid in the discovery of the theft, and that an office worker had to be hired to help find files lost during the three years that Boulais was employed by the Henrys. All of these expenses were associated with the discovery and documentation of the crime and were properly awarded. Once the crime was discovered and documented, however, no further investigation was necessary. The services contracted for with Emerald Coast Investigations were du-plicative, unsupported by the record, and unreasonable under the circumstances of this case. We therefore reverse that portion of the order awarding restitution for these services.
We accordingly REVERSE that portion of the order imposing restitution in the amount of $5000 for the services of Emerald Coast Investigations. We AFFIRM the order in all other respects.
MICKLE and PADOVANO, JJ., concur. . Boulais was adjudicated guilty and placed on five years' probation. The trial judge reserved jurisdiction to determine the amount of restitution.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Schneider v. State, 972 So. 2d 1079 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008)…tion for an offense work in conjunction with, and not independently of, each other. See § 775.089(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (2006); Bernard, v. State, 859 So. 2d 560 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003). In the First District Court of Appeal’s decision in Boulais v. State, 706 So. 2d 365 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), the court held that investigative costs paid by an employer to an accounting firm, to insurance adjusters and to an office worker who was hired to help find files lost during the period of the defendant’s employment were awardab…
-
State v. Shinall, 899 So. 2d 1219 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)…TE the order denying restitution and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. The State concedes on appeal that recovery of costs may not ex- [*1222] eeed the damages directly caused by the criminal conduct. See Boulais v. State, 706 So. 2d 365, 366 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). VAN NORTWICK and HAWKES, JJ„ concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Glaubius v. State, 688 So. 2d 913 (Fla. 1997)