PRINTER'S NO. 976
No. 902 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY GODSHALL AND FARGO, MARCH 15, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 15, 1999
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the
2 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for personal
3 injuries of perpetrators of criminal conduct.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
7 Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
8 § 8313. Personal injuries of perpetrator of criminal conduct.
9 (a) Assumption of risk.--A perpetrator shall be deemed to
10 have assumed the risk of loss, injury or death resulting from or
11 arising out of a course of criminal conduct committed by the
12 perpetrator or accomplice as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 306(c)
13 (relating to liability for conduct of another; complicity).
14 (b) Immunity.--The victim shall be immune from civil
15 liability for any personal injuries caused by the acts or
16 omissions of the victim during the course of the criminal
17 conduct. This subsection shall not apply if the victim failed to
18 use reasonable force during the course of the criminal conduct.
1 (c) Attorney fees and costs.--If the perpetrator does not
2 prevail in a civil action subject to this section, the court
3 shall award reasonable expenses, including, but not limited to,
4 attorney fees and disbursements, to the victim.
5 (d) Stay of civil action.--Except to the extent necessary to
6 preserve evidence, a civil action in which the provisions of
7 this section are raised as a defense shall be stayed by the
8 court on motion of the perpetrator during the pendency of any
9 criminal action against the perpetrator based on the same course
10 of criminal conduct.
11 (e) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
12 words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
13 subsection:
14 "Convicted." A finding of guilt, regardless of whether the
15 adjudication of guilt is stayed or executed, an unwithdrawn
16 judicial admission of guilt or guilty plea, a no contest plea, a
17 judgment of conviction or an adjudication as a delinquent child.
18 "Course of criminal conduct." The term includes the acts or
19 omissions of a victim in resisting criminal conduct.
20 "Perpetrator." A person who has engaged in criminal conduct,
21 including, but not limited to, a person convicted of a crime.
22 "Victim." A person who is the object of another person's
23 criminal conduct, including, but not limited to, a person at the
24 scene of an emergency who gives reasonable assistance to another
25 person who is exposed to or has suffered grave physical harm.
26 Section 2. This act shall apply to civil actions commenced
27 on or after the effective date of this act.
28 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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