Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

Is there a statute of limitations on a case that's already in progress?

I'm Currently in the process of being charged with 3 misdemeanors:

M1: Theft By Unlawful Taking

M1: Criminal Conspiracy Aiding

M3: False Reports

On trial date, I arrived to check in and was told that I was not on the list for that particular day (although my court papers stated otherwise). I was then told to go home, that I would be contacted by mail or telephone within 2 weeks with an updated court date.

THAT WAS 6 MONTHS AGO!

Absolutely no mail or call from them since. I haven't moved and they know my contact information.

To aid me in my hope, my probation officer (from previous case) gave me a URL to a website his office uses to do background checks.

I've checked this site every day now for 6 months and it says as it did on my trial date. It continues to show my case as active and that my most recent court date, my trial date, was the date I went in and was turned away. My public defender automatically put in my ''waiver of the right to a speedy trial.''

So, my question is:

If the court continues to ''forget'' about my case for XX amount of months, can it be thrown out or something of the kind?

(Unique situation, wishful thinking)


Asked on 9/25/07, 6:28 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Daniel Cevallos Cevallos & Wong, LLP

Re: Is there a statute of limitations on a case that's already in progress?

You should talk to a private attorney as soon as possible. Give us a call or e-mail me directly.

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Answered on 9/25/07, 6:39 pm
Brian Zeiger Levin & Zeiger LLP

Re: Is there a statute of limitations on a case that's already in progress?

You should contact your county courthouse and make sure that you don't have a bench warrant. Contact your lawyer and ask them why you don't have a new court date. If your lawyer waived your speedy trial rights, your case will not be thrown out because of this delay.

brian

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Answered on 9/25/07, 8:44 pm


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