Maximizing Restitution Opportunities for Victims

Maximizing Restitution Opportunities for Victims

Restitution is an essential right, and a particularly meaningful part of the legal process for many victims of crimes. Although dealing with math, spreadsheets and rapidly evolving legal arguments after conviction can be daunting, developing strong skills to ensure the right to restitution is upheld is an important part of the prosecution of a case, and in improving victim participation in the legal system. For many victims, restitution is the only tangible way for a defendant, and the legal system, to recognize the losses they experienced as a result of a crime. However, it is a fast-changing area of law in Colorado, which can make the process of submitting a request more challenging. The burden for providing the documentation to support a restitution request often falls to the victim in a case. In this session we will talk about the current landscape of restitution law, the importance of restitution, how to support victims in identifying and collecting documentation, improvements with collections, and how to ensure restitution is an opportunity for justice in addition to the sentence secured in a case.

Presenters:

Emily Tofte Nestaval

Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center

Meghan Saleebey

Chief Deputy District Attorney in the 17th JD

Kazi Houston

Legal Director at Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center