Casper Man Ordered to Pay Restitution Award of $7,398 to Motel Owner
Today, the Wyoming Supreme Court upheld a restitution award in the amount of $7,398 to the owner of a motel in Casper.
Michael John Corr pled guilty to felony property destruction in 2021, but appealed the restitution award, claiming the State did not present sufficient credible evidence to support the award.
The state argues Corr waived his right to contest the amount of restitution when he failed to timely object to the victim’s damages identified in the presentence investigation report.
On May 6, 2021, the owner of a Casper motel saw Corr pulling copper wiring from the motel’s electrical panel with his truck in the evening hours. The owner of the motel took photos of Corr, and Corr fled.
According to court documents, the responding Casper police officer “observed the electrical box had been pulled away from the West facing wall and the conduit which contained the copper wire had been cut down to the concrete slab.”
The owner reported that before Corr’s actions, “the electrical box had been properly attached to the wall, the conduit was undamaged, and the copper wire had extended all the way into the box.”
On February 8, 2022, during sentencing, the State asked that Corr’s sentence include $7,398 in restitution to the victim. It noted the victim had provided the estimate, and the property damage had been substantial. Defense counsel objected to the restitution calculation.
According to court documents, the State noted that a copy of the estimate had been provided to the defense during discovery.
The State said, “I would just also note for the Court, Your Honor, that within the order for presentence investigation, it says in there that if they have any objection to anything within the presentence investigation, that they will file within, what, three days before the sentencing any objection to anything within there. It does indicate the amount of restitution. I think restitution has been verified, and they didn’t object to that. Otherwise, we would probably have [the owner] here to even provide testimony for the Court.”
At that time the district court sentenced Mr. Corr to three to five years in prison, suspended in favor of three years of probation, along with the restitution award to the victim.