STATUTE OF LIMITATIONSTATUTE OF LIMITATIONSTATUTE OF LIMITATIONSTATUTE OF LIMITATIONSTATUTE OF LIMITATION
N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6 sets time limitations for prosecution
of criminal offenses. These provisions are not to be
applied to offenses committed prior to 1979, the effective
date of the Code. State v. Freck Funeral Home, 185 N.J.
Super. 385, 391 (Law Div. 1982).
The Code establishes six provisions which determine
the time period in which a criminal prosecution must
commence. First, a prosecution for murder,
manslaughter, or sexual assault may be commenced at
any time. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6a. The common law “year and
a day rule,” which barred a murder prosecution unless the
victim died within a year and a day of the assault, has been
abolished. State v. Young, 148 N.J. Super. 405, 412-413
(App. Div. 1977), rev’d o.g. 77 N.J. 245 (1977).
Second, prosecution of certain offenses related to the
environment must be commenced within ten years of
discovery of the offense. These offenses include causing
or risking widespread injury or damage contrary to
N.J.S.A. 2C:17-2a(2); and violations of waste rules and
regulations under N.J.S.A. 13:1E-9 and N.J.S.A. 13:1E-
48.20; of clean-air provisions in N.J.S.A. 26:2C-19;
hazardous substances provisions in N.J.S.A. 34:5A-41;
and water-pollution-control provisions in N.J.S.A.
58:10A-10. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6(5).
Third, prosecution of certain enumerated offenses
involving the conduct of public officials and employees
must be commenced within seven years after their
commission, N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6b(3). They include bribery
in official and political matters, N.J.S.A. 2C:27-2;
compensation for past official behavior, N.J.S.A. 2C:27-
4; gifts to public officials, N.J.S.A. 2C:27-6;
compensation of a public servant for assisting private
interests in relation to matters before him, N.J.S.A.
2C:27-7; compounding an offense, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-4;
official misconduct, N.J.S.A. 2C:30-2; and speculating
or wagering on official action or information, N.J.S.A.
2C:30-3. This seven-year statute of limitation also
applies to any attempts or conspiracies to commit these
specified offenses. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6b(3).
Fourth, prosecution of criminal sexual contact,
N.J.S.A. 2C:14-3, and endangering the welfare of a child,
N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4, where the victim is under the age of
eighteen years, must be commenced within two years of
the victim’s reaching the age of eighteen or within five
years of discovery of the offense by the victim, whichever
is later. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6b(4).
Fifth, prosecution of all other crimes must be
commenced within five years after the commission of the
offense. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6b(1); State v. Stern, 197 N.J.
Super. 49 (App. Div. 1984). And finally, a prosecution
for a disorderly persons offense or petty disorderly
persons offence must be commenced within one year after
it is committed, N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6b(2).The Code provides that the period of limitation
begins to run on the day after the offense is committed.
N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6c. An offense is committed when every
element occurs, State v. Weleck, 10 N.J. 355, 374 (1952),
or in the case of a continuing offense, when the course of
conduct or defendant’s complicity in the offense
terminates. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6c; State v. Tyson, 200 N.J.
Super. 137 (Law Div. 1984). The effect of the Code,
however, is to establish a presumption against finding
that an offense is a continuing one. State v. Tyson, supra.The Code requires that a prosecution be commenced
within the period specified. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6d. For
crimes, commencement occurs when an indictment is
voted by the Grand Jury and properly returned to court.
State v. Rhodes, 11 N.J. 515, 520 (1953); see Grill v. City
of Newark, 311 N.J. Super. 435 (App. Div. 1997). For
a disorderly persons offense or petty disorderly persons
offense, a prosecution is commenced when a warrant or
other process is issued, provided that each is executed
without unreasonable delay. Id. It is the attempt to serve
the warrant or process and not the actual service which
satisfies the statutory provision. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6d.Once a prosecution has been properly filed within
the statute of limitation for indictable offenses, it can be
downgraded to a nonindictable offense at any time. Ibid;
see also, State v. Stillwell, 175 N.J. Super. 244 (App. Div.
1980) (holding, pre-Code, that the defendant could not
be found guilty on the lesser included offense of
manslaughter in a murder trial commenced more than
five years after the crime occurred, as manslaughter was
governed by a five-year statute of limitations).There are two tolling provisions in the Code. Time
during which a prosecution for the same conduct is
pending against the accused in this State does not count
against the period of limitation. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6e. The
statute will also be tolled while a suspect is fleeing from
justice. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6f. See State v. Greenberg, 16 N.J.
568, 578 (1954) (State must show either flight from or
concealment within the jurisdiction plus an intent to
avoid detection or prosecution). Accord, State v. Estrada,
35 N.J. Super. 459, 461 (Cty. Ct. 1955).