Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

The statute of limitations has to do with how long the prosecution has to file charges. On a misdemeanor, it's one year.

Once you go to court and are arraigned (enter your not guilty plea), you have speedy trial rights. If you're in custody at the time of your arraignment, you have a right to a trial within 30 days. If you're out of custody, you have a right to a trial within 45 days.

That means that your trial has to start on or before the final day. If you are assigned to a courtroom and a substantial portion of the judge's time is devoted to your case (pre-trial motions, jury selection, etc.), that counts as "starting" your trial.

The statute of limitations for misdemeanors is one year. Charges must be filed within that time period, but the first court date could be later.

If you were charged with resisting or delaying an officer under Penal Code 148, the statute of limitations would be one year.

Some crimes can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony. These are commonly called wobblers. Resisting arrest by force or violence under penal Code 69 is a wobbler. If the DA decided to charge you with a misdemeanor PC 69, the felony statute of limitations would apply. For Penal Code 69, it is there years.

Mssrs. Marshall and Dane have correctly advised you. To simplify the determination, look at the date of the purple stamped "FILED" mark in the upper right hand corner of the complaint (the document that lists the criminal charges against you) and then compare that date to the day the crime was committed, which should also be stated in the complaint itself. If it is more than a year, the statute of limitations has been exceeded and the charges must be dismissed. Note: in computing time in legal matters you do NOT count the first date and you DO count the last date. So if the crime was committed on July 1, 2008 and the D.A. filed a misdemeanor complaint on July 1, 2009, it is just in time. From July 2, 2008 to July 1, 2009 is 365 days.