Senate Bill No. 2
(By Senators Dugan and Buckalew)
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[Introduced January 10, 1996; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article seven, chapter fifty-five of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eighteen, relating to barring certain civil actions for
damages against the victims and witnesses of crimes by the
persons committing such crimes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article seven, chapter fifty-five of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eighteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-18. Immunity of victims and witnesses from suits by
convicted criminals.
(a) As used in this section,
(1) "Individual" shall be construed to include an organization; and
(2) "Defendant" means a person or organization who has been
lawfully and finally convicted of criminal conduct against a
victim.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, no victim of criminal conduct, may be held liable for
any civil damages to the defendant for any act or omission
arising in connection with the criminal conduct, or proximately
resulting from the criminal conduct.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, no individual who has provided testimony or other
evidence which led to the arrest, indictment or conviction of a
defendant, may be held liable for any civil damages to the
defendant for any act or omission arising in connection with the
criminal conduct, or proximately resulting from the criminal
conduct.
(d) The immunity provided in this section may not be
asserted by:
(1) A defendant convicted of criminal conduct in connection
with another defendant's criminal conduct; or
(2) A defendant who was engaged in any act or omission
arising in connection with another defendant's criminal conduct, but who was not prosecuted solely because of the use of
prosecutorial discretion.
(e) This section shall be liberally construed for the
purpose of deterring crime and protecting victims of crime and
witnesses assisting in the investigation and prosecution of
crimes.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide immunity from
civil liability to victims of crimes and to witnesses who provide
evidence in the investigation and prosecution of crimes.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.