S.B. 461, An Act Concerning the Statute of Limitations for Crimes Committed Against the Elderly

The Connecticut General Statutes dictate that statutes of limitations begin to run from the date of the offense. Senate Bill 461 would alter how statutes of limitation typically work by starting the clock at the discovery of the commission of the offense, rather than the commission of the offense. This change is concerning because given the broadly expanded period of time, evidence is likely to be lost, destroyed, or deteriorated. As time goes on, the memory of witnesses becomes unreliable, witnesses may no longer have the capacity to testify at all, and witnesses may be difficult to find because they have since moved. All of these problems will make it more difficult to fairly try cases with accurate evidence, which could result in wrongful conviction or mistrial. Because of the signficant evidentiary issues raised by expanding the statute of limitations to the discovery of a crime, the ACLU-CT opposes this bill and urges this Committee to do the same.