(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a victim of a crime may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover restitution or money damages, or both, from the convicted individual who committed the crime or the individual’s representative.

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Terms Used In Alabama Code 41-9-85.3

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a judgment obtained pursuant to this section is not subject to execution or enforcement against the first one thousand dollars ($1,000) deposited into an inmate or prisoner account to the credit of an inmate.
(c) In actions seeking relief pursuant to subsection (a), the claim must not be considered as having accrued until:

(1) the actual discovery of the profits or funds; or
(2) actual notice received from or published by the Securities Commission of the discovery of the profits or funds, whichever occurs first, after which a victim of a crime must have five years within which to prosecute the action.