Does a Warrant Affect Shoplifting Statute of Limitations

[illkins9]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New Jersey

I was charged with shoplifting in the amount of under $200 which is a disorderly persons charge in NJ. This is my first cri inal charge ever. I was arressted on 7/16/2011 and my next court date is 7/27/2012. I have read that the statue of limitations on this charge is one year from the date of arresst. I have had prior court dates some which I attended and others I missed and was issued a warrant for my arresst. My question is will the warrant for arressst affect the one year time statue of limitations or not and if so in what way will it be effected?
Thank yoiu!!!

[flyingron]

Once you are charged (i.e. a warrant issued), prosecution has commenced. The statute of limitations ceases to matter at that point. There are speedy trial rights in NJ, but they're not an fixed period of time nor automatic. You have to assert them and if the state is not ready to prosecute move for dismissal.

[souperdave]

I have had prior court dates some which I attended and others I missed and was issued a warrant for my arresst.

Sounds like you have a failure to appear warrant due to missing court dates. That is totally unrelated to the original charge and adds to your record another charge.

[illkins9]

Now im even more confused on the actual meaning of the statue of limitations on a shopfifting under $200 charge. The way it reads on a few plain english law websites is that the statue of limitations of one year commences when an arrest is made, a summons is issued, a complaint filed, ect... and then the prosecution has one year from that date to try the case. Thats pretty much exactly how it reads on a couple New Jersey law websites written in plain english. I dont know what to beleive now. Thank you very much for your help, i do appreciate your input!

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Sounds like you have a failure to appear warrant due to missing court dates. That is totally unrelated to the original charge and adds to your record another charge.

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[flyingron]

You're reading it wrong. Statute of limitations is the time between when the CRIME OCCURRED (or in some places DISCOVERED or other events) and PROSECUTION COMMENCES. The filing of the charges leading to a warrant or an arrest typically ends limitations issue.

Once you're charged, you're entitled by the sixth amendment to a "speedy" trial. That puts time limits on how long it can be until your trial start. As I already pointed out the New Jersey speedy trial law isn't like some states where you've got a fixed time from being charged for the trial to start before the charges are automatically dismissed. In NJ you (or more specifically your lawyer) has to specifically go to the judge and complain that the prosecution is dragging things out.