LRB-1992/2
CMH:cjs:jf
2007 - 2008 LEGISLATURE
May 15, 2007 - Introduced by Representatives Gundrum, Musser, Wood, Travis,
Jeskewitz, J. Ott, Kaufert, A. Ott, Bies, Petrowski, Gunderson, Nass, Hahn,
Mursau, Townsend and
Roth, cosponsored by Senators Darling and
Roessler. Referred to Committee on Judiciary and Ethics.
AB337,1,2
1An Act to create 940.201 (3) of the statutes;
relating to: battery or threat to
2witnesses and providing a penalty.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, a person is guilty of a Class H felony if he or she
intentionally causes or threatens to cause bodily harm to an individual he or she
knows, or should know, is a witness by reason of the individual having attended or
testified as a witness. The person is subject to a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment
of up to six years, or both.
Under this bill a person who is charged with a crime is guilty of a Class D felony
if he or she intentionally causes or threatens to cause bodily harm to an individual
he or she knows, or should know, is a witness to that crime. The person is subject to
a fine of up to $100,000, imprisonment of up to 25 years, or both.
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.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB337, s. 1
3Section
1. 940.201 (3) of the statutes is created to read:
AB337,2,3
1940.201
(3) Whoever intentionally causes bodily harm or threatens to cause
2bodily harm to a person under all of the following circumstances is guilty of a Class
3D felony:
AB337,2,44
(a) At the time of the act or the threat, the actor is charged with a crime.
AB337,2,65
(b) At the time of the act or the threat, the actor knows or should have known
6that the person is a witness to the crime with which the actor is charged.
AB337,2,98
(1) This act first applies to acts and threats committed on the effective date of
9this subsection.
