LRB-3535/1
MGD:wlj:pg
2005 - 2006 LEGISLATURE
August 30, 2005 - Introduced by Representatives Kessler and Albers. Referred
to Committee on Judiciary.
AB643,1,2
1An Act to create 940.43 (7) of the statutes;
relating to: intimidating a witness
2and providing a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Current law prohibits intimidating a witness — knowingly and maliciously
preventing or dissuading any witness (or attempting to prevent or dissuade any
witness) from attending or giving testimony at any trial, proceeding, or inquiry
authorized by law. A person who violates this prohibition is guilty of a Class A
misdemeanor and may be fined up to $10,000 or sentenced to a term of imprisonment
of up to nine months or both. The maximum sentence for this offense, however,
increases when: 1) the act is accompanied by force or violence or the attempted use
of force or violence; 2) the act is accompanied by damage to property; 3) the act is
accompanied by any express or implied threat of force, violence, or property damage;
4) the act is in furtherance of a conspiracy; 5) the act is committed by a person with
a prior conviction for intimidating a witness or victim; or 6) the person committing
the act is hired to do it by another person. Under any of those circumstances, a person
who unlawfully intimidates a witness is guilty of a Class G felony and may be fined
up to $25,000 or sentenced to a term of imprisonment of up to ten years (which, if the
sentence is for more than one year, consists of a term of confinement followed by a
term of extended supervision) or both.
This bill specifies another set of circumstances under which witness
intimidation is a Class G felony — when a person who is charged with a felony
unlawfully intimidates a witness or a potential witness in connection with a trial,
proceeding, or inquiry for that felony.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,
the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a
report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to
result if the bill is enacted.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB643, s. 1
1Section
1. 940.43 (7) of the statutes is created to read:
AB643,2,32
940.43
(7) Where the act is committed by a person who is charged with a felony
3in connection with a trial, proceeding, or inquiry for that felony.
