In the criminal legal system, statutes of limitations set the amount of time the government has to start prosecutions. If a government prosecutor doesn’t file criminal charges within the designated time period, the defendant can hold up the statute of limitations as a complete defense and ask the judge to dismiss the charges.
What Are Criminal Statutes of Limitations?
Criminal statutes of limitations are designed to promote justice and protect would-be defendants from having to defend against stale claims. In many criminal cases, the more time that passes, the less reliable evidence becomes—witnesses’ memories fade, witnesses die or move, or evidence might be lost or destroyed. Having time limits for starting and pursuing a criminal case furthers the goal of ensuring fair and just trials.
However, legislators in many states, including Wisconsin, have decided that some crimes are so serious that they should be tried at any time or certain situations warrant longer time limits. In this respect, limitation periods are usually longer for felonies than for misdemeanors. Crimes against child victims often have longer time limits or the law delays when the time limit starts. And some crimes—most notably, murder—typically don’t have statutes of limitations, meaning the government can charge someone with the offense no matter how long ago it allegedly happened.
What Are the Statutes of Limitations for Criminal Cases in Wisconsin?
Below are examples of Wisconsin's criminal statutes of limitations. Keep in mind that the following is a partial list with broad overviews, and the circumstances of the crime can change how the law is interpreted. For instance, the limitations period might be longer when the victim is a minor or DNA is discovered. Or the time limit might not start until the crime is discovered, rather than when it's committed. (More on how statutes of limitations work can be found after the chart.)
A knowledgeable lawyer can explain the precise rules, along with the way they apply to you.
Felonies and Misdemeanors
Wisconsin, like most states, sets time limits for a number of specific crimes (such as murder, sexual assault, and others). For crimes that don’t have a specific statute of limitations, the law creates a default.
In Wisconsin, the default statutes of limitations are:
- six years for felonies, and
- three years for misdemeanors.
Specific Crimes
Below are examples of statutes of limitations for specific crimes. Some carry the default limitations period, while others reflect longer time periods based on the severity of the offense.
How Do Statutes of Limitations Work in Wisconsin?
A defendant who believes the statute of limitations has expired can ask the court to dismiss the criminal charges. If successful, the case can’t continue on those charges and the defendant is essentially in the clear (unless charges can be brought in another state or federal court).
The question then becomes how one knows the limitations period has expired—when exactly does the clock start and stop? The limitations period typically starts to “run” the moment the alleged crime is complete. So, if the period for criminal assault is three years, the prosecution would have three years from the date the defendant attacked the victim to file charges.
Determining the starting point for the limitations period can be trickier for crimes that span days, weeks, or longer. But the same general rule tends to apply—that is, the clock starts ticking once the crime has actually ended. Courts have held, for example, that a conspiracy ends for statute-of-limitation purposes at the point that the last “overt act” was committed.
Some events “toll”—or pause—statutes of limitations, giving the prosecution more time. For example, if the statute of limitations for a crime is five years and the suspect goes into hiding for a year—during which the statute is tolled—the prosecution may well have six years from the date of the crime to prosecute.
Getting Legal Help
Statutes of limitations can get knotty. Sometimes there’s a default limitations period for a set of crimes (misdemeanors, for example), but a more specific period for a crime within that set. Or the statute of limitations could expire for one crime but leave the defendant open to prosecution for another—or for prosecution in an entirely different jurisdiction. Not only that, but other timing issues can come into play in criminal cases—for instance, the right to a speedy trial.
Make sure to consult an experienced criminal defense attorney if you want to know about any timing issues that apply to your situation, including how to raise the statute-of-limitations defense.