Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: ouil , dui

A statute of limitations is a deadline for a criminal charge to be brought against a defendant. Michigan's general statute of limitations for criminal cases is 6 years. So, if the person got charged in court more than 6 years after the incident, the case could be dismissed.

If it got charged quicker than 6 years, there are some defense theories that can still argue a charging delay basis for getting the case dismissed -- usually when there was no good cause for the foot-dragging AND the defense's ability to now present a defense was hurt (e.g., witnesses are now dead, evidence is not available, etc.).

In drunk driving cases, one reason for a charging delay can be the the prosecution is waiting for test results on blood or urine to get a blood-alcohol content. That can take weeks or months in this age of budget cuts, and lab back-ups.