ASSEMBLY, No. 959

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblymen FELICE and ROMANO

An Act concerning death by auto or vessel and amending N.J.S.2C:1-6.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. N.J.S.2C:1-6 is amended to read as follows:

    2C:1-6. Time Limitations. a. A prosecution for any offense set forth in N.J.S.2C:11-3 [or] , N.J.S.2C:11-4 or N.J.S.2C:11-5 may be commenced at any time.

    b. Except as otherwise provided in this section, prosecutions for other offenses are subject to the following periods of limitations:

    (1) A prosecution for a crime must be commenced within five years after it is committed;

    (2) A prosecution for a disorderly persons offense or petty disorderly persons offense must be commenced within one year after it is committed;

    (3) A prosecution for any offense set forth in 2C:27-2, 2C:27-4, 2C:27-6, 2C:27-7, 2C:29-4, 2C:30-2, 2C:30-3, or any attempt or conspiracy to commit such an offense, must be commenced within seven years after the commission of the offense;

    (4) A prosecution for an offense set forth in N.J.S.2C:14-2 or N.J.S.2C:14-3 or N.J.S.2C:24-4, when the victim at the time of the offense is below the age of 18 years, must be commenced within five years of the victim's attaining the age of 18.

    c. An offense is committed either when every element occurs or, if a legislative purpose to prohibit a continuing course of conduct plainly appears, at the time when the course of conduct or the defendant's complicity therein is terminated. Time starts to run on the day after the offense is committed.

    d. A prosecution is commenced for a crime when an indictment is found and for a nonindictable offense when a warrant or other process is issued, provided that such warrant or process is executed without unreasonable delay. Nothing contained in this section, however, shall be deemed to prohibit the downgrading of an indictable offense to a nonindictable offense at any time if the indictable offense was filed within the statute of limitations applicable to indictable offenses.

    e. The period of limitation does not run during any time when a prosecution against the accused for the same conduct is pending in this State.

    f. The limitations in this section shall not apply to any person fleeing from justice.

    g. Except as otherwise provided in this code, no civil action shall be brought pursuant to this code more than five years after such action accrues.

(cf: P.L.1989, c.228, s.1)

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill eliminates the statute of limitations for prosecuting death by auto or vessel cases. Currently, the statute of limitations for death by auto or vessel prosecutions is five years; however, there is no statute of limitations for murder and manslaughter prosecutions. If enacted, this bill would put death by auto or vessel on the same footing as murder and manslaughter.

Eliminates statute of limitations for death by auto or vessel.