Legal Memorandum: Statute of Limitations on Felony in VA

Issue: Under Virginia law, what statute of limitations applies to felonies?

The common law imposed no statute of limitations on felony prosecution.  Anderson v. Commonwealth, 48 Va. App. 704, 711, 634 S.E.2d 372, 375 (2006) (citing 1 Charles E. Torcia, Wharton’s Criminal Law § 92, at 628 (15^th ed. 1993)).  Statutes of limitations are a matter of “legislative grace.”  Id.  “Consistent with the common law, Virginia has no general statute of limitations on felonies.”  Id. (citing Foster v. Commonwealth, 44 Va. App. 574, 576, 606 S.E.2d 518, 519 (2004), aff’d 271 Va. 235, 623 S.E.2d 902 (2006)).

Nonetheless, defendants do have a right to a speedy trial.  U.S. Const. Amend. 6.  Generally, the Sixth Amendment right attaches upon arrest or indictment.  See, generally, Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647, 112 S. Ct. 2686 (1992). 

Due process may also play a role for pre-arrest or pre-indictment delay.  Smith v. Commonwealth, Record No. 2170-09-2, 2010 Va. App. LEXIS 478, *8 (Va. Ct. App. Dec. 14, 2010) (citing United States v. MacDonald, 456 U.S. 1, 7, 102 S. Ct. 1497 (1982)).  However, delays in pre-arrest or pre-indictment situations have a limited role and bar a prosecution “‘only when the defendant incurred actual prejudice as result of the delay’ and the ‘prosecutor intentionally delayed indicting the defendant to gain a tactical advantage.'”  Id. at *8-9 (quoting Anderson v. Commonwealth, 48 Va. App. at 712, 634 S.E.2d at 376).

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