Fourth DCA Criminal Case: Caretaker Ordered to Pay Over 20 Thousand Dollar Back in Restitution

Do you know what criminal restitution is? Has a caretaker in    West Palm Beach abused their power over your loved ones? Was money stolen? Were assets converted? You may have an avenue of relief from the very West Palm Beach criminal court that is overseeing prosecution – I am talking about restitution. Want to see how it works? Check out this case out of the Fourth District Court of Appeals where a woman was ordered to pay back restitution after defrauding an elderly man as her caregiver.

Caregiver Abuse

• Unfortunately with a growing elderly population, Florida and West Palm Beach in general has more than its share of elder abuse.
• This includes abuse by caretakers.
• Do you know how to prevent caretaker abuse?
• Check out our prior blog posts about caretaker abuse for more simple advice on how to protect your loved ones in West Palm Beach.
• What happens after the abuse has unfortunately already occurred?
• For one thing hopefully you are pursuing civil remedies with an experienced Palm Beach litigator.
• Also the State Attorney may also have something to say about the matter and may be seeking criminal charges.
• When that happens you need to be asking yourself one thing – am I entitled to restitution?

Restitution

• Restitution is a legal paradigm whereby when an individual in West Palm Beach injures another through criminal acts they may be held liable.
• The law noticed that merely locking someone away does little for the actual victims.
• Because of this the doctrine of restitution has developed to protect the injured in criminal cases.  

State of Florida v. Tomasheski

• In this appeal the State appealed an order whereby it was found a criminal defendant was limited to 20 thousand dollars restitution.
• The Court quickly rebuffed that prior holding and said she was liable for the full amount of damages she caused [money she stole and ancillary costs.]
• Are you owed proper criminal restitution?
• Florida does not reward those that sleep on their rights so make sure you act now not later.

Want to learn more?

Check out the entire case by clicking here.