A year and a day rule

The 'Year and A Day Rule' is a common law principle that had existed in Wisconsin since its formation as a state, but which was overruled by the Supreme Court. According to the Year and a Day Rule, no homicide was committed unless the victim died within one year plus one day after the injury was inflicted, concluding that if the victim died more than a year and a day after the incident, it was conclusive that the injury did not cause the death. Because the rule was established in the thirteenth century when medical technology was primitive, a person who lived beyond a year could reasonably be presumed of dying of other causes, rather than the injury inflicted by the accident in question, which injury was presumed would cause death much quicker.

Today, medical technology has far surpassed what even the most creative medical minds could have imagined in the thirteenth century. As a result of medical science's ability to determine the precise cause of death and our court's ability to hear expert witnesses, which also did not exist in common law, such a rule is unnecessary. Consequently, 'A Year and A Day Rule' was abolished in 2003.

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