Have you ever reported a crime that happened many years ago? But it didn’t go under any legal prosecution? Well, that’s maybe because of the statute of limitations. The term “civil lawsuit statute of limitations” refers to the time in which legal prosecution must be started. Statute of limitation is a part of the law, and it is the time given to the person who can file a complaint when he witnesses a felony act. For example, a person owes another person some debt, and he isn’t able to return that debt at a fixed date or time, so according to the USA’s law, the other person can no longer file a complaint once five years have passed since the incident.
There are different statutes of limitations for different crimes, some may be reported within 1 year of the crime, and some may be reported after 2 years, depending upon the type of crime. Statute of limitations has great importance because it gives time to people who have been wronged to prove their innocence.
The statute of limitations is different for different crimes in different countries. Some crimes do not have a statute of limitations in the USA, including murder, terrorism, child abuse, etc. But there are crimes like major frauds with a statute of limitations of 7 years from when the crime was committed. There are numerous examples when the government extended the statute of limitations.
States and their Civil lawsuit statute of limitations:
For most crimes, the civil lawsuit statute of limitations is different. However, some crimes have no statute of limitations like murder, child abuse, etc. But the statute for different crimes in different states of America is different. For instance, in Alabama, the statute of limitations for most crimes is 3 years, except for drug trafficking, violent offenses, and any crime that includes minors. Many states do not have any statute of limitations for rape cases, but the statute is not less than 9 years in other states, which means that the rape can be reported within 9 years. In New Jersey, the civil lawsuit statute of limitations is 5 years for most crimes, and there are no limitations for murder. In New York, the limitation is 6 years for bigger felonies and 3 years for smaller ones. In Ohio, 20 years is the limitation for felonies like rape, assault, and abuse against a child victim. Pennsylvania has a statute of limitations of 12 years for major crimes and 5 years for small felonies.
Statute of limitations for sexual crime:
An offender of sexual assault must go under legal prosecution within ten years of the crime has been committed. If the person does not go under prosecution then he is not liable to any charges after the ten years of crime. There is no statute of limitations for the crime of theft, which means that the victim can file a case at any time. Once the offender involved in the victim’s criminal damage has been caught, he is to be presented in front of a judge who executes the matter according to US laws.
Statute of limitations for assault crimes:
Crimes like assault have a statute of limitations of three years within which a case must be filed. But if the case is not filed in this period, this may cause the case to become weak and ultimately break down without a stronger base. If a long time has passed since the crime was committed, this may cause the charges to be dismissed. Seek guidance from the professionals from the particular field to get a better understanding of the limitations.
Statute of limitations for theft charges:
If a citizen commits the crime of theft, then PC 108 states that this is a felony, and the statute of limitations to present it in the court is three years. If the case is not filed within this period, this may weaken the base of the case, and the prosecutor may lose the right to file that case in the future. Theft charges may be considered a crime or felony, which means the allegations will depend upon the crime or felony.
The time for filing a case against the minor thief is 6 months, and after that, the case will be considered weak, and thus no charges will be made on the offender. This means that if a case is filed after 4 years of the incident, the state will not prosecute the case as the statute of limitations has passed.
Statute of limitations for Drug charges:
Drug use, distribution, and trafficking are major issues, and if you are caught doing any of this, you may face a long time in prison. You may wonder how long can someone file a case against me. If a long time has passed, there will be no charges as too much time has passed. The complaint against the criminal must be filed as soon as possible so that he doesn’t have to wait for the statute of limitations to be ended. The statute of limitations in most states is three to seven years, which means that the offender can be prosecuted within three years of the crime committed. A three-year limitation is when you are caught using the drugs; however, the limitation is five years if you are caught supplying them on the federal level.
Statute of limitations for Fraud charges:
Have you ever witnessed a fraud? If yes, you can file a case against it if four years since that incident has not passed. The statute of limitations for fraud is four years, according to 18.USC.3282 the statute of limitation for mail fraud is five years and the same is for wire fraud. If the offender has used illegal or forbidden emails within a period of five years, then he can be reported, but if a case is not filed against him, then no charges can be pressed against him due to too much time being passed. To avoid fraud, a trusted legal advisor must guide through any agreement or signing of any contract with any organization or person. Some big law firms are known to have a good reputation in these kinds of matters. Seek advice from those to prevent any kind of fraud.
Crimes that do not have any statute of limitations:
Although there are crimes that need to be reported when they are committed because of their short statute of limitation, there are also crimes which can be reported after many years and they will still be prosecuted no matter what. These crimes include murder, sexual assault on a child, war crimes and crimes attempted in aggression. In other words, crimes that involve the degradation of humanity or crimes involving deaths have no statute of limitation. They can be reported whenever and wherever in the US state.
According to California P.C 799, all those crimes that result in death or treason to the country have no statute of limitation. If a child is raped at a very young age, then a case can be filed whenever he wants. If a person conducts treason to the country, then he must be reported and arrested as soon as possible, that is why there is no statute of limitation for treason.
When crimes like these happen and a long time is passed, and all the evidence belonging to the case is lost then the statement of the victim is the major evidence to build a case and that is the reason why a case can be built many years after the crime is committed.
Why is a statute of limitation important?
Think of a child who witnessed the murder of his close one at a young age. He could not file a case back then, but when he grows up and gets to know about the justice system he can file a case and hire a lawyer to support it. Here, civil lawsuit statute of limitations helps in a way that when a crime is committed, and the person is not able to report, still, after some years two or three, when he gets the knowledge, he can report the crime and gets justice. If there is no limitation, then the person who witnessed the crime a while back ago won’t be able to report it, and the offender will keep doing criminal activities, and there will be nothing stopping it. Statute of limitation plays a very vital role in the justice system of the country.