Federal · Title 18 — Crimes and Criminal Procedure

18 U.S.C. § 3282: Offenses not capital

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

This statute establishes the statute of limitations for prosecuting non-capital offenses (generally five years) and permits identifying unknown defendants by DNA profile in certain sexual assault cases.

Read the full statutory text

Except as otherwise expressly provided by law, no person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any offense, not capital, unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted within five years next after such offense shall have been committed. In any indictment for an offense under chapter 109A for which the identity of the accused is unknown, it shall be sufficient to describe the accused as an individual whose name is unknown, but who has a particular DNA profile. the limitations period described under subsection (a); and the provisions of chapter 208 until the individual is arrested or served with a summons in connection with the charges contained in the indictment. For purposes of this subsection, the term “DNA profile” means a set of DNA identification characteristics.

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