State v. Lee

Syllabus

The state appealed in each case from the judgment of the trial court granting the defendant's motion to dismiss the underlying charges brought against him on statute of limitations grounds. The state, which did not challenge the dismissal of the charge of failure to appear brought against each defendant, claimed that the court improperly applied statute of limitations principles in dismissing the underlying timely filed charges brought against each defen- dant. Held: The trial court improperly granted the defendants' motions to dismiss insofar as it dismissed the underlying charges, as there was no basis on which this court could conclude that the unreasonable delay in the service of certain rearrest warrants for failure to appear should affect the prosecution of the underlying charges, which were timely brought and which did not proceed earlier because the defendants failed to appear in court, a circumstance of the defendants' own making. Argued September 9—officially released November 19, 2024