Section 940.203. Battery or threat to judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer.

 

(1)  In this section:

(a) “Family member" means a parent, spouse, sibling, child, stepchild, or foster child.

(b) “Judge" means a person who currently is or who formerly was a supreme court justice, court of appeals judge, circuit court judge, municipal judge, temporary or permanent reserve, judge or circuit, supplemental, or municipal court commissioner.

(c) “Law enforcement officer" has the meaning given in s. 102.475 (8) (c) and includes a person who formerly was a law enforcement officer under that definition.

(d) “Prosecutor" means a person who currently is or formerly was any of the following:

1. A district attorney, a deputy district attorney, an assistant district attorney, or a special prosecutor appointed under s. 978.045 or 978.05 (8) (b) .

2. The attorney general, a deputy attorney general, or an assistant attorney general.

(2)  Whoever intentionally causes bodily harm or threatens to cause bodily harm to the person or family member of any judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer under all of the following circumstances is guilty of a Class H felony:

(a) At the time of the act or threat, the actor knows or should have known that the victim is a judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer or a member of the judge's, prosecutor's, or law enforcement officer's family.

(b) The act or threat is in response to any action taken by a judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer in an official capacity.

(c) There is no consent by the person harmed or threatened.

1993 a. 50 , 446 ; 2001 a. 61 , 109 ; 2009 a. 28 ; 2015 a. 78 . Only a “true threat" is punishable under this section. A true threat is a statement that a speaker would reasonably foresee that a listener would reasonably interpret as a serious expression of a purpose to inflict harm, as distinguished from hyperbole, jest, innocuous talk, expressions of political views, or other similarly protected speech. It is not necessary that the speaker have the ability to carry out the threat. Jury instructions must contain a clear definition of a true threat. State v. Perkins, 2001 WI 46 , 243 Wis. 2d 141 , 626 N.W.2d 762 , 99-1924 .