Murder in Wisconsin law

Murder in Wisconsin law constitutes the intentional killing, under circumstances defined by law, of people within or under the jurisdiction of the U.S. state of Wisconsin.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in the year 2020, the state had a murder rate slightly below the median for the entire country.[1]

In 2003, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the year and a day rule in the case before it, but simultaneously abolished the rule for any later cases, noting the modern circumstances of homicide cases, in which there is "the specter of a family's being forced to choose between terminating the use of a life-support system and allowing an accused to escape a murder charge" and the court's finding that it is "unjust to permit an assailant to escape punishment because of a convergence of modern medical advances and an archaic rule from the thirteenth century".[2]

  1. ^ "National Center for Health Statistics: Homicide Mortality by State". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. February 16, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  2. ^ State v. Picotte, 2003 Wisc. 42, ¶ 35 (2003). Summarized in "Supreme Court Digest: Homicide – Year-and-a-Day Rule Abrogated". Wisconsin Lawyer. 76 (7). Madison, Wisconsin: State Bar of Wisconsin. July 2003.