Senate Bill No. 599
(By Senators Sprouse, Yoder, Barnes, Caruth, Minear,
Guills, Lanham, Weeks, Harrison, Boley and Facemyer)
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[Introduced March 18, 2005; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §55-7-22 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to eliminating any liability for
wrongful death of, injury to or damage to property of a
perpetrator of a crime during the commission of a crime.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §55-7-22 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-22. Civil immunity to persons resisting criminal activities.
(a) Any person who unlawfully enters upon the property of
another for purposes of engaging in criminal conduct assumes the
risk for any injury caused to him or her by the reasonable and
proportionate acts of the owner or his
or her agent in resisting
the commission of the criminal conduct.
(b)
The provisions of this section do not apply to the
creation of a hazardous or dangerous condition on the property
designed to prevent criminal conduct or cause injury to a person engaging in criminal conduct. No person, corporation, or legal
entity is liable for personal injury, wrongful death or property
damage an individual suffers while attempting to commit or
committing a felony or when fleeing after committing a felony.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate civil liability
for the wrongful death of, injury to or damage to property of a
perpetrator of a crime during the commission of a crime.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.