RCW 4.24.420

Action by person committing a felony—Defense—Law enforcement activities—Actions under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983.

Applied in 10 court decisions — leading case Haugen v. Brosseau (2003)

Most recently applied in Sina Ghodsee, V. City Of Kent, Et Ano (April 2022)

2021 c 325 s 1; 1987 c 212 s 901; 1986 c 305 s 501.

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) Except in an action arising out of law enforcement activities resulting in personal injury or death, it is a complete defense to any action for damages for personal injury or wrongful death that the person injured or killed was engaged in the commission of a felony at the time of the occurrence causing the injury or death and the felony was a proximate cause of the injury or death.

(2) In an action arising out of law enforcement activities resulting in personal injury or death, it is a complete defense to the action that the finder of fact has determined beyond a reasonable doubt that the person injured or killed was engaged in the commission of a felony at the time of the occurrence causing the injury or death, the commission of which was a proximate cause of the injury or death.

(3) Nothing in this section shall affect a right of action under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.