Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Statute of limitations for domestic abuse in MN

Could you tell me if a crime of domestic abuse was committed in 1999 when the statute of limitations in Minnesota was 2 years, if the law that went into effect on August 1, 2000 raises the statute of limitations to 6 years? In other words, can a person press charges for domestic abuse in 2003 if the domestic abuse happened in 1999?

Thank you!


Asked on 6/08/03, 8:58 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas C. Gallagher Gallagher Criminal Defense

Re: Statute of limitations for domestic abuse in MN

To my knowledge, the "statute of limitations" limiting the time within which the government can charge that a person committed the CRIME of domestic assault, or of assault, has never been two years, and is not now six years. You might be confusing this with recent news media reports regarding the CIVIL statute of limitations regarding claims of child abuse. A person could be subject to both civil and criminal liability for the same wrongful act -- but the "statutes of limitation" applicable to the CIVIL claim against them could be of a different length than the one applicable to the CRIMINAL claim against them.

There are many "statutes of limitations" for various crimes, see for example Minnesota Statutes Section 628.26, for some of them.

http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/628/26.html

Read more
Answered on 6/09/03, 11:44 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in Minnesota