Waiver of Statute of Limitations Is Enforceable

A defendant’s pretrial waiver of the right to assert a statute-of-limitations defense is enforceable if the waiver and the accompanying guilty plea to reduced charges all occurred before the clock had run out on the original underlying offense, the Washington Supreme Court ruled Aug. 21. (State v. Peltier, 2014 BL 232677, Wash., No. 89502-3)

As a consequence, the state in this case was allowed to resurrect the original serious charges—even though the limitations period had since run—when the defendant violated the terms of the plea agreement. “If it proves more advantageous for a defendant to waive a statute ...