Prosecuting offenders is not nearly as easy as it may appear to be, and having limitations on the length of time in which it takes to gather that evidence makes it that much harder for prosecutors. Also, within the scope of these laws, many guilty parties go free from punishment because their cases have run out of time. Allowing guilty parties to avoid punishment is always a negative aspect of such legislation.
Florida State Statue of Limitations covers a wide range of crimes, offenses, debt issues, and civil litigations. They are broken up into time periods and which crimes and offenses are allotted into those specific time periods. The time lengths go as follows, twenty years, five years, four years, two, and one year. For instance, the time period given by the Florida Statute of Limitations for commencing trial on the charge of "An action for assault, battery, false arrest, malicious prosecution, malicious interference, false imprisonment, or any other intentional tort, except as provided in subsections," (Florida Legislature, 2008) has a statute of limitations which expires at four years. Most malpractice actions within the state of Florida have a two-year statute of limitation. The majority of debt related cases fall under one to two years statutes; while most other contract disputes fall under the one year statute. Florida legislation is a good representation of how the statutes vary depending on severity of the charges.
In cases where laches are used, defendants claim that their opposing parties who had original brought forth the legal matter have delayed the proceedings so much so that they should no longer be entitled to their case. Basically, a defendant has to show that they have declined as a result of such a long delay, and that their condition is somehow worse than at the start of the litigation as a direct result from the opposing party's failure to conduct their case in a timely manner.
This basically means that the length of time stipulated by the statute of legislation has been frozen for some particular reason, and will continue again at a later date, (Nolo, 2008). Reasons for tolling a case include defendants who are missing or out of state on another sentence or case. The most used reason for tolling cases is when the defendant has fled from custody and is running from the law. In this case, the statute of limitations on his or her case will be frozen until that person is found, at which time the statute will then again commence.
Works Cited
Florida Legislature. (2008). Statutes and constitution: online sunshine. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0095/Sec11.htm
Free Advice. (2008). Personal injury statute of limitations. http://law.freeadvice.com/resources/personal_injury_statute_of_limitations.htm
Limitations, statute of. (2008). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 21, 2008, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online:
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9048306
Rinkle, Ralph. (2005) Laches, doctrine of. 'Lectric Law Library. http://www.lectlaw.com/def/l056.htm
The Oyez Project, Lawrence v. Florida, 549 U.S. ____ (2007), available at: http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006_05_8820/(last visited Friday, March 21, 2008).
