In United States v. Nucci, the Second Circuit considered an issue of first impression in the Circuit -- whether it was improper to order a number of defendants to pay restitution to a victim, where the cumulative effect of the orders would be that the victim would receive a windfall. Nucci argued that the Court should have apportioned the restitution among the defendants, rather than ordering each to pay the full amount, or limited the total amount that the victim could receive. The Court stated that is was within the District Court's discretion to apportion the restitution under the statute, and that any restitution obligation may be ordered to be joint and several. The Court noted that nothing in the statute precluded double recovery by a victim in the criminal context, nor does it expressly state that the defendant's restitution obligation ceases upon the victim having been made whole by receipt of restitution payments from other co-defendants. The Second Circuit, however, joined the Seventh and Ninth Circuits in holding that the statutes, although they do not explicitly say so, bar the recovery by the victim of any sum above his or her actual loss. The Court stated that to hold otherwise would be in derogation of the common law. The Court was unwilling to allow for such a windfall in the absence of clear and unequivocal language from Congress. The decision can be found on the Second Circuit website. It was decided on April 14, 2004.