Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

statue of limitations on traffic and criminal

ok my question is if you were pulled over and charged with driving on suspended and you did not go to court and there were warrants issued is there a statue limit on that? and the same question if you were violated on probation and warrants were issued are there limitations on those type of charges? if so what are they. plus if you were arrested in anther state on a federal charge while these warrants were present and they did not come and get you and they were aware of your location . are there any limitations. if not what is the next best wat to go about handling the situation? look forward to hearing from you thanks!


Asked on 1/25/05, 1:50 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: statue of limitations on traffic and criminal

Once a warrant is issued for a defendant's failure to appear, it can persist indefintely in various law enforcement databases, including the FBI's National Crime Information Center(NCIC)database. As long as the defendant has been properly served with notice of the offense charged

and he then deliberately fails to appear in court for his case, the statute of limitations for the underlying offense(s) will be tolled or stayed and the absconder can be prosecuted anytime after he's picked up on the warrant.(Of course, whether the prosecutor will want to pursue the matter will depend upon many factors, including the availability of witnesses,relevant records, etc.).

The best way for one to deal with a situation involving multiple outstanding warrants is to engage the services of competent defense counsel(more than one may be required if there are multiple jurisdictions involved)and arrange to negotiate a settlement with the prosecutor's office on each case with an outstanding warrant-----one by one, until they've all been settled.

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Answered on 1/25/05, 2:15 pm


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