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Let's just say someone who is in their 20s commits a felony. He is wanted and remains on the run for decades and he is found almost 50 years later when he is in his 70s.

Can he still be arrested for something that happened over 50 years ago?

2007-12-30 13:58:08 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government Law & Ethics

11 answers

Yes dont listen to the people who talk about statute of limitations. That doesnt apply.

The statute of limitations is the time limit they have to charge you with a crime not the time they have to capture and take you to trial. If they have issued a warrant for your arrest they have already charged you with the crime and the statute of limitations in now a non issue.

A warrant will stay in effect until one of two things happen.

the judge for some reason revokes the warrant (almost never happens)

Or you are caught or turn yourself in. So the answer to your question is yes the warrant will be in effect forever.

Some warrants are different than others meaning some warrant have specific note on them as to how far they will go to extradite you. Meaning if you get a warrant in MD for FTA on a speeding ticket the judge might put a clause in the warrant saying they will only extradite from MD, VA, WV, PA if you are pulled over in any other state they will let you know that you have the warrant but wont haul you off to jail for it. Some dont have anything like that in it and if you are pulled over they will take you to jail send a fax to the department issuing the warrant telling them they got you and where they are and you will wait for that department to make contact with them to tell if they are going to come and get you or not.

a statute of limitations would apply if the crime was commited and they failed to produce enough evidence to charge you with in the amount of time that the limitations set for that crime are. You do not get rewarded for being able to elude capture for a certian amount of time. The warrant is a form of charging you with the crime which means the statute of limitations are no longer an issue'

It is best to go get it taken care of becuase everytime you get pulled over or questioned for any reason such as a roadblock during the holidays you are going to have to deal with it.

you can listen to my answer one that comes from being a Sheriff's Deputy or you can choose to listen to these people who obniosly have no knowledge of the law stating statutes of limitations. The warant is there until you are caught or the judge revokes it.

ADDITION: I have arrested people on warrants that were over 20 years old before and heard of them being much older than that.

ADDITIONAL ADDITION (lol) here is the definition of statute of limitations

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. In civil law systems, similar provisions are usually part of the civil code or criminal code and are often known collectively as "periods of prescription" or "prescriptive periods."

Notice it says "may be initiated" not completed. The warrant is the initiation of the criminal proceedings

2007-12-30 14:16:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

It depends on the state, as each state is different. If the warrant state has an active warrant which has not been served, and another state runs a nationwide search and finds the active warrant, the suspect will be detained until the arresting state contacts the warrant state and the warrant state replies to proceed to extradite the suspect to the warrant state in order to adjudicate the warrant (proceed to court against the suspect) or release the suspect in the arrest state. The suspect can be arrested again two months later on the same warrant, until the warrant is dealt with in the warrant state.

2007-12-30 14:05:49 · answer #2 · answered by Another Guy 4 · 0 1

yes, because that warrant has never been satisified legally.
Some states doesn't recognize the Statue of Limitations, but the states that do, it's normally 7 years. I used to date someone and his dad was a lawyer, sadly enough, the son was a criminal, which is why I dumped him, lol.

2007-12-30 14:13:39 · answer #3 · answered by Wutz it worth 2 ya? 6 · 0 1

It depends on what the warrant was for. If it like murder there is no statue of limitations and they can come get that person no matter how old they are.

2007-12-30 14:03:12 · answer #4 · answered by Alencia B 3 · 0 1

Yes, he certainly can be. I've seen such cases in the news. He would be arrested and have to serve out his remaining sentence.

2007-12-30 14:08:38 · answer #5 · answered by Chantal G 6 · 0 0

Mostly every crime has a statue of limitations. These are subject to state and federal law. There are exceptions such as murder.

2007-12-30 14:07:33 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

depends on when the crime was comitted. If there was a statute of limitations on the crime at the time then it may have run out. However most serious crimes do not have statutes of limitations ie. murder.

2007-12-30 14:06:03 · answer #7 · answered by splash 3 · 0 1

THERE IS A 7 YEAR STATUE OF LIMITATIONS FOR FELONIES.MURDER HAS NO STATUE OF LIMITATIONS DEPENDING ON THE CLASS OF FELOLONY IT RANNGES FROM 3 TO 7YRS THIS VARIES FROM STATE TO STATE

2007-12-30 14:19:39 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

depends on what the offense was and the statute of limitations for prosecution in that state.

2007-12-30 14:05:30 · answer #9 · answered by allrightythen 7 · 0 1

Yep. What did you do?

2007-12-30 14:01:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

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