Sen. Christine Radogno

Filed: 5/3/2016

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 6083

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 6083 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. This Act may be referred to as Molly's Law.
 
5    Section 5. The Wrongful Death Act is amended by changing
6Section 2 as follows:
 
7    (740 ILCS 180/2)  (from Ch. 70, par. 2)
8    Sec. 2. (a) Every such action shall be brought by and in
9the names of the personal representatives of such deceased
10person, and, except as otherwise hereinafter provided, the
11amount recovered in every such action shall be for the
12exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse and next of kin of
13such deceased person. In every such action the jury may give
14such damages as they shall deem a fair and just compensation
15with reference to the pecuniary injuries resulting from such

 

 

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1death, including damages for grief, sorrow, and mental
2suffering, to the surviving spouse and next of kin of such
3deceased person.
4    (b) The amount recovered in any such action shall be
5distributed by the court in which the cause is heard or, in the
6case of an agreed settlement, by the circuit court, to each of
7the surviving spouse and next of kin of such deceased person in
8the proportion, as determined by the court, that the percentage
9of dependency of each such person upon the deceased person
10bears to the sum of the percentages of dependency of all such
11persons upon the deceased person.
12    (c) Where the deceased person left no surviving spouse or
13next of kin entitled to recovery, the damages shall, subject to
14the following limitations inure, to the exclusive benefit of
15the following persons, or any one or more of them:
16        (1) (a) to the person or persons furnishing
17    hospitalization or hospital services in connection with
18    the last illness or injury of the deceased person, not
19    exceeding $450;
20        (2) (b) to the person or persons furnishing medical or
21    surgical services in connection with such last illness or
22    injury, not exceeding $450;
23        (3) (c) to the personal representatives, as such, for
24    the costs and expenses of administering the estate and
25    prosecuting or compromising the action, including a
26    reasonable attorney's fee. In any such case the measure of

 

 

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1    damages to be recovered shall be the total of the
2    reasonable value of such hospitalization or hospital
3    service, medical and surgical services, funeral expenses,
4    and such costs and expenses of administration, including
5    attorney fees, not exceeding the foregoing limitations for
6    each class of such expenses and not exceeding $900 plus a
7    reasonable attorney's fee.
8    (d) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e) of this
9Section, every Every such action shall be commenced within 2
10years after the death of such person but an action against a
11defendant arising from a crime committed by the defendant in
12whose name an escrow account was established under the
13"Criminal Victims' Escrow Account Act" shall be commenced
14within 2 years after the establishment of such account.
15    (e) An action may be brought within 5 years after the date
16of the death if the death is the result of violent intentional
17conduct or within one year after the final disposition of the
18criminal case if the defendant is charged with:
19        (1) first degree murder under Section 9-1 of the
20    Criminal Code of 2012;
21        (2) intentional homicide of an unborn child under
22    Section 9-1.2 of the Criminal Code of 2012;
23        (3) second degree murder under Section 9-2 of the
24    Criminal Code of 2012;
25        (4) voluntary manslaughter of an unborn child under
26    Section 9-2.1 of the Criminal Code of 2012;

 

 

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1        (5) involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide
2    under Section 9-3 of the Criminal Code of 2012;
3        (6) involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide of
4    an unborn child under Section 9-3.2 of the Criminal Code of
5    2012; or
6        (7) drug-induced homicide under Section 9-3.3 of the
7    Criminal Code of 2012.
8    This subsection extends the statute of limitations only
9against the individual who allegedly committed a violent
10intentional act or was the defendant charged with a crime
11listed in this subsection. It does not extend the statute of
12limitations against any other person or entity. The changes to
13this Section made by this amendatory Act of the 99th General
14Assembly apply to causes of action arising on or after the
15effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General
16Assembly.
17    (f) For the purposes of this Section 2, next of kin
18includes an adopting parent and an adopted child, and they
19shall be treated as a natural parent and a natural child,
20respectively. However, if a person entitled to recover benefits
21under this Act, is, at the time the cause of action accrued,
22within the age of 18 years, he or she may cause such action to
23be brought within 2 years after attainment of the age of 18.
24    (g) In any such action to recover damages, it shall not be
25a defense that the death was caused in whole or in part by the
26contributory negligence of one or more of the beneficiaries on

 

 

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1behalf of whom the action is brought, but the amount of damages
2given shall be reduced in the following manner.
3    (h) The trier of fact shall first determine the decedent's
4contributory fault in accordance with Sections 2-1116 and
52-1107.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Recovery of damages
6shall be barred or diminished accordingly. The trier of fact
7shall then determine the contributory fault, if any, of each
8beneficiary on behalf of whom the action was brought:
9        (1) Where the trier of fact finds that the contributory
10    fault of a beneficiary on whose behalf the action is
11    brought is not more than 50% of the proximate cause of the
12    wrongful death of the decedent, then the damages allowed to
13    that beneficiary shall be diminished in proportion to the
14    contributory fault attributed to that beneficiary. The
15    amount of the reduction shall not be payable by any
16    defendant.
17        (2) Where the trier of fact finds that the contributory
18    fault of a beneficiary on whose behalf the action is
19    brought is more than 50% of the proximate cause of the
20    wrongful death of the decedent, then the beneficiary shall
21    be barred from recovering damages and the amount of damages
22    which would have been payable to that beneficiary, but for
23    the beneficiary's contributory fault, shall not inure to
24    the benefit of the remaining beneficiaries and shall not be
25    payable by any defendant.
26    (i) The trial judge shall conduct a hearing to determine

 

 

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1the degree of dependency of each beneficiary upon the decedent.
2The trial judge shall calculate the amount of damages to be
3awarded each beneficiary, taking into account any reduction
4arising from either the decedent's or the beneficiary's
5contributory fault.
6    (j) This amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly
7applies to all actions pending on or filed after the effective
8date of this amendatory Act.
9    (k) This amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly
10applies to causes of actions accruing on or after its effective
11date.
12(Source: P.A. 95-3, eff. 5-31-07.)".