Demers v. State

Demers embezzled money from the Alaska Folk Festival and, as part of his sentence, he was ordered to pay restitution to the Folk Festival for the money he stole. The question in this case is whether the sentencing court was authorized to order Demers to pay an additional $5000 in restitution to the Folk Festival for the value of labor donated by two of its board members who volunteered their time to reconstruct the Folk Festival's financial records, thus allowing the Folk Festival to ascertain the amount of Demers's embezzlement.

A court's sentencing powers are defined by the legislature.1 The…