The thing destroyed meant a lot to me personally — does sentimental value count in what I can recover?

The provision names sentimental value expressly

Reparation for a felony is not confined to what the thing would fetch. Art. 106 directs that the court shall determine the amount of damage, taking into consideration the price of the thing, whenever possible, and its special sentimental value to the injured party, and reparation shall be made accordingly. Market price comes first and is used whenever possible, which acknowledges that some things have no market at all. Sentimental value then sits alongside it as a matter the court is told to weigh, rather than as an indulgence it may extend if it feels moved to.

The word doing the limiting is 'special'

This is where readers tend to expect more than the article gives. The provision speaks of value that is special to the injured party, not of the ordinary fondness anyone has for their own possessions. A wedding ring, a parent's last photograph, an heirloom carried through a family, an item made by hand by someone now dead — these are the kind of thing contemplated, and what makes them special can be explained to somebody else. Distress at being robbed, however real, is a different matter and is addressed by other rules, not by this one.

The court fixes the figure, and it is not a formula

The article says the court determines the amount; it supplies no multiplier and no schedule. In practice that means the sum is argued rather than computed, and a claim asserted without material behind it tends to be treated as an assertion. It also means nobody can tell you in advance what a particular item will be valued at, and any figure quoted to you as what you are entitled to should be treated with caution. Reparation is also only one head of the civil liability arising from the offence, as Art. 104 sets out.

Showing the court what the thing was

What tends to persuade is evidence that the attachment existed before the loss and is verifiable by someone other than you. Photographs of the item in use over the years, correspondence or documents recording how it came to you, and witnesses who can speak to its place in the family do more than a description of how much it meant. Where the object also had a market value, establish that separately, since the two work together in the article. Bring both strands to counsel while the criminal case is still running.

Related provisions

• Revised Penal Code, Article 104 — What Civil Liability Includes
• Revised Penal Code, Article 106 — How Reparation Is Made