Sexton (Karen) v. State ( 2014 )

 his miscellaneous jewelry. Regarding his watches, the victim provided
screenshots of similar watches that he obtained from the online auction
site EBay. Sexton cross-examined the victim as to why he was requesting
a different amount than he had previously given and why he was
including new items in his request, including a $72,000 watch he had not
reported stolen. The victim explained that he did not know the value of
his watch collection and had given his best estimates under the
circumstances. The district court ordered Sexton to pay the full amount
requested.
We conclude that the restitution award was not based upon
reliable or accurate evidence. An owner may testify regarding the value of
his property if he has personal knowledge or expert proof of the value, but
he may not repeat another person's valuation. Stephans v. State, 127 Nev.
262 P.3d 727, 731 (2011). Here, the victim explained his personal
knowledge regarding the value of his sunglasses and jewelry, and the
district court found his testimony to be credible. However, the victim
admitted that he did not know the value of his watches. The EBay
information provided to support the restitution request was not reliable
because many of the watches were merely "similar" to those which had
been stolen and the amounts requested were based on the "starting bid,"
"current bid," and "buy it now" prices rather than actual selling prices.
Moreover, several of the amounts sought and awarded were greater than
the amounts supported by the EBay valuations. For the watches the
victim was unable to find comparisons to, he admitted that he arrived at
the requested values "arbitrarily" based on "rough estimates" of what he
believed they were worth. We conclude that the district court abused its
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discretion by imposing restitution in the amount of $112,947. Accordingly,
we
ORDER the judgment REVERSED IN PART AND REMAND
this matter to the district court for a full restitution hearing
C.J.
;dem, J. , J.
Pickering
cc: Hon. Patrick Flanagan, District Judge
Washoe County Alternate Public Defender
Attorney General/Carson City
Washoe County District Attorney
Washoe District Court Clerk
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