The online versions of legislation provided on this website are not official. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State's Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus.
|
Sub. S. B. No. 117 As Passed by the Senate
As Passed by the Senate
126th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2005-2006 |
| |
Senators Mallory, Dann, Fedor, Jacobson, Miller, Schuler, Amstutz, Zurz, Armbruster, Brady, Clancy, Fingerhut, Goodman, Hagan, Jordan, Mumper, Niehaus, Padgett, Schuring, Wachtmann, Wilson, Harris, Spada, Cates
A BILL
To amend section 2307.60 of the Revised Code to provide that a final judgment, entered after a trial or upon a plea of guilty in certain criminal actions generally precludes the offender from denying any fact essential to sustain that judgment when entered in evidence in a civil proceeding that is based on the criminal act. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 2307.60 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2307.60. (A)(1)
Anyone injured in person or property by
a
criminal act has, and
may recover full damages in, a civil
action
unless specifically excepted by
law, may recover the costs
of
maintaining the civil action and attorney's fees
if authorized
by
any provision of the Rules of Civil Procedure or another
section
of the Revised Code or under the common law of this state,
and may
recover
punitive or exemplary damages if authorized by
section
2315.21 or another
section of the Revised Code.
No record
of a
conviction, unless
obtained by confession in open court,
shall
be
used as evidence in a civil
action brought pursuant to
division
(A) of
this
section.
(2) A final judgment of a trial court that has not been reversed on appeal or otherwise set aside, nullified, or vacated, entered after a trial or upon a plea of guilty, but not upon a plea of no contest or the equivalent plea from another jurisdiction, that adjudges an offender guilty of a crime punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year, when entered as evidence in any subsequent civil proceeding based on the criminal act, shall preclude the offender from denying in the subsequent civil proceeding any fact essential to sustaining that judgment, unless the offender can demonstrate that extraordinary circumstances prevented the offender from having a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in the criminal proceeding or other extraordinary circumstances justify affording the offender an opportunity to relitigate the issue. The offender may introduce evidence of the offender's pending appeal of the final judgment of the trial court, if applicable, and the court may consider that evidence in determining the liability of the offender. (B)(1) As used in division (B) of this section, "tort action"
means a civil action for damages for
injury, death, or loss to
person or property other than a civil
action for damages for a
breach of contract or another agreement
between persons. "Tort
action" includes, but is not limited to, a
product liability
claim, as defined in section 2307.71 of the Revised Code, and an asbestos claim, as defined in section 2307.91 of the Revised Code, an action for wrongful death under
Chapter 2125. of the
Revised Code, and an action based on
derivative claims for relief. (2) Recovery on a claim for relief in a tort action is
barred
to any person or the person's legal representative if the
person
has been convicted of or has pleaded guilty to a felony, or
to a
misdemeanor that is an offense of violence, arising out of
criminal conduct that was a proximate cause of the injury or loss
for which relief is claimed in the action. (3) Division (B) of this section does not apply to civil
claims based upon alleged intentionally tortious conduct, alleged
violations of the United States Constitution, or alleged
violations of statutes of the United States pertaining to civil
rights.
Section 2. That existing section 2307.60 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.
|
|