Code of Massachusetts Regulations
940 CMR - OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Title 940 CMR 14.00 - Compensation Of Victims Of Violent Crimes
Section 14.07 - Limitations on Compensation

1. acts of negligence or poor judgment such as entering a motor vehicle operated by an intoxicated person;

2. crimes in which the victim is a victim of sexual assault;

3. acts of self defense or defense of others;

4. acts attributable to reasonable efforts by the victim to aid a crime victim, to prevent a crime from occurring in his presence, or to apprehend a person who has committed a crime in his or her presence.

1. crimes in which the victim deliberately provoked the offender by means of fighting words, racial or other bias-motivated taunting, or by threats coupled with overt actions indicating the victim's intent to carry out the threat;

2. crimes in which the victim initiated or significantly escalated a physical altercation with the offender;

3. crimes constituting acts of retaliation or retribution for a crime or crimes previously committed by the victim;

4. crimes in which the victim acted as an accomplice to the offender;

5. crimes committed during the course of an illegal drug transaction in which the victim was a knowing and willing participant;

6. crimes in which the victim's felony criminal record, coupled with the circumstances of the crime, lead to the reasonable inference that the crime for which the claimant seeks compensation was directly caused or provoked by the victim's criminal history.

1. if it was reasonably foreseeable that the victim's contributory actions would result in injuries of the type and nature he or she sustained, the claim shall be denied (e.g. an implicit or explicit agreement to fight, in which a physical altercation ensued resulting in mutual injuries).

2. if it was reasonably foreseeable that the victim's contributory conduct would result in injuries to the victim, but it was not reasonably foreseeable that his or she actions would result in injuries of the nature and type sustained by the victim, the award may be reduced by 50% (e.g. victim was stabbed or shot in response to punching the offender).

3. if the victim's injuries were not reasonably foreseeable, the award shall not be reduced or denied even though the victim's actions were an actual and direct cause of his or her injuries (e.g. victim was stabbed or shot in response to verbal provocation of the offender).