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Is there a Statute of Limitations for Dismissal With Leave for misdemeanor DWI
Anonymous1 views2 answers
Ten yrs, ago I was waiting in jail to go to court for a misdermeanor DWI, I informed the jailer of this and he said that I wasn't. I was in for another conviction. I figured my court date had been rescheduled. I was released from jail, went home, I never heard anything from my lawyer, my probation officer never said anything so I figured it had been dismissed. About six, seven yrs, ago I seen on my records I had been given a dismissal with leave on the date I was to appear in court, four days before I was released from jail. Then later on that was no longer on my records. Is there a statute of limitations & has been dismissed altogether? If not will they still reinstate after ten yrs.
While one never wants to say never it would seem to be very unlikely that they would try to prosecute you for a ten year old drunk driving. So long as you haven't moved without changing your address; moved out of state; been incarcerated out of state or by the feds the clock for the statute of limitations should have been running. If there is an attempt to arrest you you should obviously cooperate with the police, however, and let your attorney fight this out with the prosecution in court. While laws vary from state to state I would have to think at this point that the statute of limitations would have long since expired on this.
In North Carolina, dismissal with leave (we call it "VL status") almost always means a defendant failed to show up on his/her assigned court date. An order for arrest is issued, and the charge is "dismissed" so as not to show up on the District Attorney statistics as an active case. The statute of limitations is tolled because the defendant is already on notice that he/she has been charged with a criminal offense.
Most likely your driver's license is revoked and you could be arrested at any time for driving with revoked license. Given the age on the DWI, the DA will not likely reinstate the charge unless you agree to plead guilty, perhaps with an agreement to take some classes or do community service. If the DWi charges were in Wake County, it is very unlikely that the DA will dismiss them outright.
Your best chance to get a good resolution will be to retain a competent criminal defense attorney to represent you. Good luck.
