Asked 6/22/17 – Carthage, TX

Charged crime – State Felony – Theft $2500-$30K
Supposed date of crime 8/13/15
Arrested 9/18/15
Indicted two weeks later
Affidavit of Non-Prosecution has been filed by affected company’s attorney but local county prosecutor is not obliged to dismiss.

Within days of my arrest I spoke with the prosecutor’s office and the assistant DA specifically told me to have the other party file the affidavit of non-prosecution and that would be it. When that attorney called to see what he needed to do to file the papers she told him they would not accept it and had already indicted me. My attorney then got the papers and submitted them with no affect.

I have appeared for two court dates where we had to push to get on the docket and they were never ready to proceed. I live in Missouri and it takes me 10 hours one way to show up for a court date. It has now been over a year and a half and there has been no movement by the prosecutor’s office to proceed.

How long can a county prosecutor sit on a case and basically hold my status hostage? This is now affecting my ability to purchase/own firearms. I cannot travel to/through Canada for work purposes.

Answer

The statute of limitations is tolled once the State files the charging instrument (the indictment) in a criminal case, so this does not apply in your situation. Unfortunately, it generally does take several months if not years to resolve felony cases. Since you live out of state, I hope your attorney has explained your situation to the Judge, and requested your appearance in court be waived for all court setting that are non-dispositive. If you do not want to wait on what a prosecutor will do, set the case for trial. I understand the inconvenience this is causing in your life, but from the DA’s point of view, people who commit offenses should be inconvenienced. The fact that an affidavit of non-prosecution has been filed does not necessarily mean that you did not commit the offense, and the State may feel there is enough evidence to prove the allegations against you beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, if the State believes you are guilty of the offense, the fact that you cannot purchase a firearm or travel to Canada is not a concern. Sit down with your attorney and see what options are available to close out your case at your next setting.