(a)  No funds attributable to a specific alleged criminally responsible person shall be distributed unless and until that person is determined to be criminally responsible as defined in this chapter. Immediately upon the dismissal of charges or the acquittal of the person for the crime which was the subject of the commercial exploitation, all funds recovered by the general treasurer attributable to that person shall be paid to him or her together with any interest which accrued on those funds.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-6

  • Acquittal:
    1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
    2. A verdict of "not guilty."
     
  • Alleged criminally responsible person: means a person who has been indicted or against whom a criminal information has been proferred for the commission of a felony committed within the state of Rhode Island which caused another person to suffer personal injury or loss of property, but who has not yet been either convicted or acquitted of the charge nor had the charge dismissed. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
  • Commercial exploitation: means any significant commercial exploitation by means of any publication, reenactment, dramatization, interview, depiction, explanation, or expression through any medium of communication which is undertaken for financial consideration, except tangential and incidental references to a crime. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
  • Criminally responsible person: means a person who has been convicted of a felony committed within the state of Rhode Island which caused another person to suffer personal injury or loss of property, or who has been adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity after a trial on a charge of the offense, or who has voluntarily admitted the commission of the offense. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.

(b)  Subject to the disposition of all claims and pending claims which have been brought against the funds attributable to the criminally responsible person, he or she may recover the remainder of the funds pursuant to § 12-25.1-3(c)(1)(viii) three (3) years and six (6) months following the last payment to or recovery by the general treasurer of the funds.

History of Section.
P.L. 1983, ch. 328, § 1.