QUESTION
No charges filed on shoplifting arrest after a year
Asked on Dec 22nd, 2020 on Criminal Law - California
More details to this question:
I was arrested for a shoplifting misdemeanor in mid December 2019. I went to court the following month (Jan 2020) to only find out that the case hadn’t been filed yet. I was given instructions to consistently call my city’s district attorney to find out if my case had been filed. So, I have been calling monthly but have never been given a “yes, your case has been filed”. When will I be able to conclude that the limitations of charging me are in effect? It’s been a year and I have heard nothing.
1 ANSWER
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If the arrest was for a misdemeanor theft related charge, then the statute of limitation is 1 year. I'm not sure what county the incident occurred but usually a DA's office would indicate if they "declined" or "rejected" filing a criminal case. You might want to just check with the court through the website if they have a way to check on cases and if not, to call just to make sure nothing has been filed. If you really can't figure it out, then you might want to contact a criminal defense attorney in the county where you went to court to find out. If nothing has been filed and the statute of limitation period is over, you will want to get a certificate of detention only to get the arrest changed to a "detention only" if you were booked. Youl also might want to petition to get the arrest records sealed.
Answered on Dec 28th, 2020 at 8:24 AM