State v. Ellis

OPINION

APODACA, Chief Judge.

Rick Ellis (Defendant) appeals the trial court’s restitution order entered after Defendant’s guilty plea to two misdemeanors— attempted tampering with evidence and embezzlement. Defendant raises two issues on appeal. First, he challenges the trial court’s authority to enter its restitution order under NMSA 1978, Section 31-17-1 (Repl. Pamp.1994). This challenge is two-fold — Defendant argues that: (1) the two misdemean- or crimes he was convicted of cannot be a predicate for requiring restitution under Section 31-17-1 because of the absence of the required causal…