2003 Wisconsin Act 87

Date of enactment: November 25, 2003
2003 Senate Bill 38 Date of publication*: December 10, 2003

* Section 991.11, Wisconsin Statutes 2001-02 : Effective date of acts. "Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor's partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication as designated" by the secretary of state [the date of publication may not be more than 10 working days after the date of enactment].

2003 WISCONSIN ACT 87

An Act to create 895.78 of the statutes; relating to: limiting recovery for persons injured while involved in a felony.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

87,1 Section 1. 895.78 of the statutes is created to read:

895.78 Limiting felon's right to damages. (1) In this section:

(a) "Crime" means a crime under the laws of this state or under federal law.

(b) "Damages" means damages for an injury to real or personal property, for death, or for personal injury.

(c) "Felony" means a felony under the laws of this state or under federal law.

(d) "Victim" means a person against whom an act constituting a felony was committed.

(2) No person may recover damages from any of the following persons for injury or death incurred while committing, or as a result of committing, an act that constituted a felony, if the person was convicted of a felony for that act:

(a) A victim of that felony.

(b) An individual other than a victim of that felony who assisted or attempted to assist in the prevention of the act, who assisted or attempted to assist in the protection of the victim, or who assisted or attempted to assist in the apprehension or detention of the person committing the act unless the individual who assisted or attempted to assist is convicted of a crime as a result of his or her assistance or attempted assistance.

(3) This section does not prohibit a person from recovering damages for death or personal injury resulting from a device used to provide security that is intended or likely to cause great bodily harm, as defined in s. 939.22 (14), or death.

(4) (a) Any applicable statute of limitations for an action to recover damages against a person described under sub. (2) (a) or (b) for injury or death incurred while committing, or as a result of committing, an act that constituted a felony is tolled during the period beginning with the commencement of a criminal proceeding charging the person who committed the act with a felony for that act and ending with the final disposition, as defined in s. 893.13 (1), of the criminal proceeding.

(b) Any applicable statute of limitations for an action to recover damages from an individual described under sub. (2) (b) for injury or death incurred while committing, or as a result of committing, an act that constituted a felony is tolled during the period beginning with the commencement of a criminal proceeding charging the individual described under sub. (2) (b) with a crime as a result of his or her assistance or attempt to assist and ending with the final disposition, as defined in s. 893.13 (1), of the criminal proceeding. This paragraph does not apply if a criminal proceeding described in par. (a) does not result in a felony conviction and there is no other criminal proceeding described under par. (a) pending.

(5) A court may stay a civil action described under sub. (2) until the final disposition of a criminal proceeding described under sub. (4).

87,2 Section 2. Initial applicability.

(1) This act first applies to damages incurred on the effective date of this subsection.