H.B. 576

VETOES

shall be in an amount equal to the arithmetic average between the maximum and
minimum awards listed in the applicable portion of that subtitle.

(2)     Any person who is entitled to an award due to the death of a victim as
the direct result of a crime or who has psychological injury may be eligible, under the
rules established by the Board, to receive psychiatric, psychological, or mental health
counseling, within the specific limitations of [subsection (a)(3)] SUBSECTION (A)(4) of
this section.

(c)     If there are two or more persons entitled to an award as a result of the death
of a person which is the direct result of a crime, the award shall be apportioned among
the claimants.

(d)     Any award made [ pursuant to this article] UNDER THIS SUBHEADING shall
be reduced by the amount of any payments received or to be received as a result of the
injury:

(1)     [from] FROM or on behalf of the person who committed the crime [, (2)
from];

(2) FROM any other public or private source, including an award of the
State Workers' Compensation Commission under the Maryland Workers' Compensation
Act[, or (3) as]; OR

(3)     AS an emergency award [pursuant to § 11 of this article] UNDER § 824
OF THIS SUBHEADING.

(e)     (1) (I) [In] EXCEPT AS PROVIDED UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH (II) OF
THIS PARAGRAPH, IN determining the amount of an award, the Board members shall
determine whether, because of [his] THE VICTIM'S conduct, the victim of [such] THE
crime contributed to the infliction of [his] THE VICTIM'S injury, and the Board members
shall reduce the amount of the award or reject the claim altogether, in accordance with
[such] THIS determination[; provided, however, that the].

(II) THE Board members may disregard for this purpose the
responsibility of the victim for [his] THE VICTIM'S own injury where the record shows
that [ such] THIS responsibility was attributable to efforts by the victim to prevent a crime
or an attempted crime from occurring in [his] THE VICTIM'S presence or to apprehend
a person who had committed a crime in [his] THE VICTIMS presence or had, in fact,
committed a felony.

(2)     Claimants filing for injuries incurred as the occupants of a motor vehicle
or dependents of an occupant of a motor vehicle operated by a person in violation of the
provisions of § 21-902(a), (b), (c), or (d) of the Transportation Article may not recover
unless the claimant can prove that the occupant did not or could not have known of the
condition of the operator of the vehicle.

(3)     A person is not eligible for all or a portion of an award if the person
initiated, consented to, provoked, or unreasonably failed to avoid a physical confrontation
with the offender, or the victim was participating in a criminal offense at the time the
injury was inflicted.

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