Opinion ID: 1475250
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Reasonableness of the Restitution Order

Text: Finally, Mr. Goff argues that the restitution award should have been for repair of the shower instead of replacement because, in his view, complete replacement is not reasonable. Mr. Goff argues that replacement is unreasonable because the $2,156.00 replacement estimate was based on what Mr. Hadley told the estimator about the damage and not based on the estimator's first-hand view of the damaged shower. Mr. Goff also complains that Mr. Hadley only sought out one estimate for the cost of replacement. Mr. Goff relies on § 11-615 in support of his argument, which provides: (a) Fair and reasonable charges.  In a restitution hearing held under § 11-603 of this subtitle, a written statement or bill for medical, dental, hospital, counseling, funeral, or burial expenses is legally sufficient evidence that a charge shown on the written statement or bill is a fair and reasonable charge for the services or materials provided. (b) Burden of proof.  A person who challenges the fairness and reasonableness of the amount on the statement or bill has the burden of proving that the amount is not fair and reasonable. Md.Code (2001), § 11-615 of the Criminal Procedure Article. [16] The trial court held two hearings on the question of the cost to repair or replace the damaged shower. At the first hearing, Mr. Hadley, a master plumber himself, testified about the damage to the shower and stated that there were numerous holes and cracks all through the side of the shower. In addition, the State introduced a written estimate from Caton Plumbing in the amount of $2,156, signed by Kevin Ohl. At the second hearing, the State called Kevin Ohl who testified in detail about the need to replace the shower and the cost to do so. Mr. Goff testified that he had obtained an estimate for some supplies at Lowe's and an estimate for the cost of repairing the shower from a contractor, named Mr. Blizzard, in the amount of $523.00. Mr. Goff presented no evidence to rebut the testimony of Mr. Ohl regarding the need or cost to replace the shower. By contrast, Mr. Ohl testified that the estimate provided by Mr. Blizzard was far below current market prices. As previously mentioned, after hearing the evidence, the court stated: Here what we have is an item which was probably, prior to the incident, perfectly functional and after the incident, it's not functional . . . it's not the value of the shower stall here, it's the value of the materials and services needed to replace it because it's no longer functional and I think the testimony, the last time, was adequate to establish that. So, then, the issue is, what is a fair amount of restitution, assuming that the item has to be replaced . . . it is the burden of the Defendant to show that the suggested charges by the State are not fair and reasonable and that I think the Defendant has  has not met his burden. In view of the testimony presented at the restitution hearings, the trial court did not err or abuse its discretion in determining that the State's estimate to replace the shower was fair and reasonable under the circumstances.