Legal Question in Criminal Law in Wisconsin

The statute of limitations for most crimes in WI is six years, but there is no time limit for homicides. The six years is tolled in many situations, making the time almost unlimited, for example, if you are out of state, during periods of legal disability (such as incompetence), or otherwise unavailable for prosecution. The police can therefore continue investigations and preserve the right to charge you for six years minimum and sometimes for much longer. As a practical matter, however, local police agencies in most WI communities usually proceed much sooner if all the facts are easily available to them, generally getting the charging information to the District Attorney's office within a year or two. However, DA's offices are also very busy and sometimes need that long again before they make a charging decision (since they are not bound by the police recommendations and make their own independent decisions whether or not to charge you and with what). If you are a felony suspect, you are in dire need of a private consultation with an experienced criminal lawyer as soon as possible, since the lawyer can help you even more before the charges are even issued than he can after they have been issued (although having a lawyer is critical at any stage). Please do not assume that I am your attorney because of my response here, but feel free to call my office in Racine (262-633-3090 or email [email protected]) for clarifications regarding my answer. Otherwise, under the rules of this website, I would not be taking any further action on your case. See me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. View my past answers at http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/53401-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html?sort=recency , or see an even larger collection of responses at http://www.lawguru.com/answers/search/attorney/jknixon, . Answers ma.y contain attorney advertising materials.