Does having an active arrest warrant mean that I have been charged with a crime.
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Does having an active arrest warrant mean that I have been charged with a crime.
I have lived in New Mexico since 2000 and during an employment background check
in 2015, I learned that I have a felony arrest warrant in California for Grand
Theft that was issued on 07/27/2011. I’m curious if the statute of limitations
applies in my situation and I want to know what I can do to clear this up without
having to make a 14 hour trip to California.
Asked on January 17, 2019 under Criminal Law, New Mexico
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
If there is a warrant that has been issued for your arrest, then yes you have been charged with a crime. Accordingly, the statute of limitations does not apply in this situation. The reason is that the statute only applies to the time in which charges must be brought; if they are not filed within the prescribed time period then they can never be filed. However, in your case charges have already been filed, so the statute of limitations has no effect here. Further, since charges never expire you will need to deal with them. You should do so ASAP. At this point, you will need tocontact a criminal alw attoeny who practices in the state which ssued the warrant; they can best advise you here. That having been said you will need to personally appear back in the issuing court.
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
If there is a warrant that has been issued for your arrest, then yes you have been charged with a crime. Accordingly, the statute of limitations does not apply in this situation. The reason is that the statute only applies to the time in which charges must be brought; if they are not filed within the prescribed time period then they can never be filed. However, in your case charges have already been filed, so the statute of limitations has no effect here. Further, since charges never expire you will need to deal with them. You should do so ASAP. At this point, you will need tocontact a criminal alw attoeny who practices in the state which ssued the warrant; they can best advise you here. That having been said you will need to personally appear back in the issuing court.
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