Various times, situations arise where a person may be arrested, sit in jail for some period, and then be released without charges. This raises a question of whether a person could still be charged in the future.
In these situations, there are many reasons why someone may be arrested and released from jail without charges. If this happens, it doesn’t mean that they won’t be charged in the future.
Rule 4 of the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure states that when someone is arrested, the circumstances of their arrest must be reviewed by a judge within 48 hours (this includes every minute of every day), and in any event, they must be brought before a judge within 36 hours— exclusive of the date of arrest, Sundays, or legal holidays. Whether someone is charged while they are still in custody is a decision made by a prosecutor.
A prosecutor may decide not to charge a person right after they are arrested. If the prosecutor has many cases and yours is not a high priority, they may allow the timing to expire and charge you on a later date. Many times, there may be an ongoing investigation and the prosecutor may be waiting for additional evidence. In either of these situations, you can be charged at a later date. This future date could be days, weeks, months, or even years later.
The amount of time within which a prosecutor must charge someone is controlled by the statute of limitations for the offense. A statute of limitations basically assigns a time period from the date of the offense until a person must be charged. If they are not charged within this time period, (even if they are guilty), they cannot be convicted of the offense.
Statutes of limitations differ from offense to offense. Some crimes, like those resulting in the death of the victim, have no statute of limitations. Certain types of theft and arson have a five-year statute of limitation. For most crimes, the statute of limitation is three years after commission of the offense.
Regardless of the case, if you have been arrested, released from custody, and may be facing charges, it is always a good idea to contact an attorney for advice. Attorneys can get involved in a case before charges are filed, and, in some cases, help prevent charges from ever being filed.