Legal Question in Criminal Law in Arizona

It sounds like your daughter's scenario is a little complicated. I can answer some of the issues, but some are best answered in consultation with an attorney after reviewing more of the facts. I can offer the following basic information about the court process in AZ.

In AZ, both ARS 13-3415 (possession of drug paraphernalia) and 13-3405 (possession of marijuana) can be charged as class 6 felonies, which have a 7 year statute of limitations. Just because she was not charged at the time does not bar the State from bringing charges later if there is probable cause. When the police agency submits its investigational reports to the appropriate agency (ie county attorney, city attorney, etc), that prosecutorial agency then decides who to charge with what. That process can take time, and the relevant statute of limitations likely would not have passed from an incident in October, 2010. Often the delay is due to laboratory reports. I cannot speak to what may or may not have been included in the police reports for consideration by the prosecutorial agency. The fact that she may have provided some kind of investigational assistance to the police department may not matter to the prosecutorial agency, but is definitely something an experienced criminal defense attorney should investigate and discuss with the appropriate agency.

Once the prosecutorial agency makes the decision to charge a person, they can request either a summons be issued, or just request that a warrant be issued in certain situations. Just because a person may not know they have a warrant does not necessarily make the warrant invalid. There are various statutes and court rules that accompany these processes, which would be better explained by an attorney with all of the relevant information to review. Feel free to contact me if you have further concerns.