Error and/or relief
The conviction for making a criminal threat must be reversed because the charge is barred by the statute of limitations.
First Holding:
The defendant did not raise the statute of limitations issue below. However, where the charging document indicates on its face that the action is time-barred, a person convicted of a charged offense may raise the statute of limitations at any time.
Authority:
People v. Sedillo (2015) 235 Cal.App.4th 1037, 1050–1051
Second Holding:
The applicable statute of limitations is three years. In both the complaint and information, the defendant was charged with making a criminal threat between March 31, 1999, and March 30, 2004. However, the prosecution commenced, at the earliest, on December 2, 2022, when the arrest warrant was issued. There are no facts alleged in the accusatory pleading showing that the prosecution is not barred by the statute of limitations. Therefore, as the statute of limitations ran in 2007 but the prosecution was not commenced until 2022, the criminal threat charge was time-barred and the defendant’s conviction must be reversed.
Authority:
PEN 17
PEN 422
PEN 801
PEN 804
People v. Meza (2019) 38 Cal.App.5th 821, 825 [The statute of limitations completely bars prosecution.]
People v. Sedillo (2015) 235 Cal.App.4th 1037, 1048 [An accusatory pleading must allege facts showing that the prosecution is not barred by the statute of limitations]