seeking someone that is well aware with the law?

  • Thread starter Thread starter lawstudent98
  • Start date Start date
L

lawstudent98

Guest
I am a student trying to practice law and i have come across
a scenario i do not fully understand regarding statues of limitations.

Statute of limitation : A statute of limitations is a statute in a common law legal system that sets forth the maximum period of time, after certain events, that legal proceedings based on those events may be initiated.

Question 1: Does all cases extend (left open) to the maximum statute of limitation?
Example: Case 1 = 4 yrs, Case 2 = 3yrs.
Will both cases be open till the full length of the time period?

Question 2: In the following case of where a vehicle is stolen.
The vehicle is later recovered but the perpetrator is not.
when the authorities say they have no choice but to close the case after a
a couple of months or X amount of time.
does that mean the case can no longer be opened?

In this scenario does the statute of limitation no longer apply?

Thank you for your feedback in advance.
 
Intersting. But what many courts do is "overlay" the statue with subsequent or relevent charges that due not apply to any time limit. This in turn kind of leaves the case always open.

Tricky, eh?
 
1. A statute of limitations is applied to a particular offense and vary from offense to offense; so, it all depends on what type of case it is...plus, the statute does not run through the prosecution of a case, its a deadline to start a case...the case can take forever and as long as it was filed before the statute ran, it's fine.

2. They can certainly close a criminal matter if there is little to no evidence to keep it open but it can be reopened (as long as the statute has not run) if new evidence pops up along the way that can be used to prosecute someone.
 
Statute of Limitations is a complicated legal principle. For example there are circumstances where the statute of limitations can be overcome or delayed (trolled). It depends on the specific facts of the case. Many civil cases have triggers that will start or troll the statutes. Most criminal cases have longer statutes depending on the severity of the crime. If the statute of limitations has passed and there are no loopholes to avoid or extend the statute, then the prosecution is SOL.
 
Back
Top