Today the Arizona Supreme Court handed down an important ruling on restitution in homicide cases. Interpreting Arizona's restitution statutes, the Court concluded that they require restitution for future lost income in homicide cases. The victim's family can establish the amount of restitution that is owed through reasonable estimation.
In Arizona, a victim has a right to receive full restitution from persons "convicted of the criminal conduct that caused the victim's loss or injury." See Ariz. Const. art. 2, § 2.1(A)(8). In a homicide case, the appropriate family representative for the victim steps into the victim's shoes for restitution purposes. The goal of restitution in Arizona (as in most other jurisdictions) is to restore victims to the position they were in before the loss or injury caused by the crime.
In earlier cases, Arizona courts held that "restitution should be ordered for losses that (1) are economic; (2) would not have been incurred by the victim but for the criminal offense; and (3) were directly caused by the criminal conduct." And these earlier cases held that future economic losses were recoverable.
