A statute of limitations is a law that prohibits the prosecution of a crime after the expiration of a set period. Someone might wonder why the legislature would enact a law restricting the time in which someone who commits a crime can be prosecuted.
Statutes of limitations were created to protect accused parties from needing to defend against a criminal or civil claim of wrongdoing long after the alleged events occurred. The familiar adage “justice delayed is justice denied” concisely expresses the thinking underlying statutes of limitations.
With the passage of time, the evidence needed to prove a crime and to defend against the criminal accusation deteriorates. Witness testimony becomes harder to obtain and less reliable as witnesses age, move away, become ill, or die. Documents needed to prove a defendant’s alibi can be lost through the routine purging of old records.
However, statutes of limitations are often eliminated when serious crimes are committed.
No Statute of Limitations on Serious Felonies
Under Florida law, crimes that carry penalties of death, life in prison, or that result in the death of another person have no statute of limitations. Sexual crimes against children are considered to be especially heinous and represent a large percentage of crimes with no limitation on when they can be prosecuted.
Sexual Crimes Against Children
Examples of sexual crimes included in this category are the following offenses:
- Sexual battery of a child less than 12 years of age § 794.011(2)(a) and (b)
- Sexual battery with the use of force or the use or threat to use a deadly weapon, § 794.011(3)
- Sexual battery of a child less than 12 years of age by a person in familial or custodial authority. § 794.011(8)(c)
Other Specific Sexual Battery Offenses with No Statute of Limitations
Other sexual offenses involving minors older than 12 or adults are also considered extremely serious crimes. The violation of the victim’s person is so intimate, and the damage suffered is so life-altering that legislators are reluctant to bar prosecution of offenders even after a lengthy delay.
This category of crimes with no time limitation on prosecution includes the following:
- First-degree felony sexual battery committed on a victim under 18 years of age in which the victim’s sexual organs were injured, a weapon was used or threatened to be used, or physical force was used and caused the victim serious personal injury, § 775.15(13)(b)
- A first-degree or second-degree felony sexual battery as described above when the victim was under 16 years of age, § 775.15(13)(c)
- A first or second-degree felony sexual battery of a victim 16 years of age or older as described above which is reported to a law enforcement agency within 72 hours after its commission, (When not reported within 72 hours, the statute of limitations is 8 years.) §775.15(14)
Sexual Offenses Other than Sexual Battery with No Statute of Limitations
Sexual battery is the oral, anal, or female genital penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another or the anal or female genital penetration of another by any other object. This statutory definition describes what was generally referred to as rape. It is the most serious type of criminal sexual assault.
But other sexual offenses not necessarily involving sexual battery are also extremely serious crimes. These offenses earn their own inclusion in the list of offenses for which there is no statutory limitation on the commencement of prosecution.
Kidnap of a child under 13 who during the crime commits any of the following acts may have a prosecution commenced at any time: § 787.01(3)(a)
- Aggravated child abuse
- Sexual battery
- Lewd or lascivious battery, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious conduct, or lewd or lascivious exhibition,
- Prostitution-related offense upon the child,
- Exploiting or allowing the child to be exploited, or
- Offenses relating to human trafficking.
Lewd or lascivious molestation against a child under 12 by a person 18 years of age or older. § 800.04(5)(b)
Statute of Limitations May Not Begin to Run Until Victim Reaches Age 18
Both civil and many criminal statutes of limitations do not begin to run when the victim is a minor. This delay in the running of the clock is in recognition of the person’s legal inability to act independently. This pause of the clock is called “tolling” the statute of limitations.
If a crime against a victim who is under 18 is reported to an appropriate law enforcement agency before the victim turns 18, then the statute of limitations clock will not be paused. But remember, if the crime is a first or second-degree felony as described earlier in this blog, and is reported within 72 hours, then no statute of limitations will apply.
Stopping or “tolling” the statute of limitations is significant when there are time limits within which a prosecution must be commenced to avoid barring it forever. In Florida, those offenses include the following crimes:
- incest,
- sexual battery,
- any lewd or lascivious offense,
- lewd or lascivious exhibition through the use of a computer.
Statute of Limitations Is an Affirmative Defense that Must Be Raised
If a defendant’s criminal defense lawyer does not have a masterful grasp of the applicable statute of limitations, a criminal defendant could be critically prejudiced at trial. When a prosecution is barred by the expiration of a statute of limitation, the defendant must move to dismiss the charge based on that time lapse. Failure to timely raise and assert the statute of limitations defense is a waiver of the defense.
Read More > What Crimes Can Get You on the Florida Sex Offender Registry
Get Help from Our Experienced Tampa Criminal Defense Firm
If you or someone you love has been charged with a sex-related crime, contact Stechschulte Nell at 813-280-1244. We are ready to defend you and protect your future.
