940.44 Intimidation of victims; misdemeanor. Except as provided in s. 940.45, whoever knowingly and maliciously prevents or dissuades, or who attempts to so prevent or dissuade, another person who has been the victim of any crime or who is acting on behalf of the victim from doing any of the following is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor:

(1) Making any report of the victimization to any peace officer or state, local or federal law enforcement or prosecuting agency, or to any judge.

(2) Causing a complaint, indictment, or information to be sought or prosecuted, or assisting in the prosecution thereof.

(3) Arresting or causing or seeking the arrest of any person in connection with the victimization.

History: 1981 c. 118; 2015 a. 14.

A jury instruction for a violation of s. 940.44 should specify the underlying crime and that a defendant cannot be found guilty of intimidating a victim of a crime unless the elements of the underlying crime are proved beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Thomas, 161 Wis. 2d 616, 468 N.W.2d 729 (Ct. App. 1991).

Acquittal on the underlying charge does not require acquittal on a charge under s. 940.44 as the jury may have exercised its right to return a not guilty verdict irrespective of evidence on the underlying charge. State v. Thomas, 161 Wis. 2d 616, 468 N.W.2d 729 (Ct. App. 1991).

The disorderly conduct statute, s. 947.01, does not require a victim, but when the disorderly conduct is directed at a person, that person is the victim for the purpose of prosecuting the perpetrator for intimidating a victim under this section. State v. Vinje, 201 Wis. 2d 98, 548 N.W.2d 118 (Ct. App. 1996), 95-1484.

In the phrase “causing a complaint ... to be sought and prosecuted and assisting in the prosecution thereof" in sub. (2), “and" is read in the disjunctive. Sub. (2) includes alleged acts of intimidation that occur after a victim has caused a complaint to be sought and applies to all acts of intimidation that attempt to prevent or dissuade a crime victim from providing any one or more of the following forms of assistance to prosecutors: 1) causing a complaint, indictment or information to be sought; 2) causing a complaint to be prosecuted; or, more generally, 3) assisting in a prosecution. State v. Freer, 2010 WI App 9, 323 Wis. 2d 29, 779 N.W.2d 12, 08-2233.