criminal-law california
California Penal Code, Section 800 Statute of Limitations
<p>California Penal Code Section 800 states "Except as provided in Section 799, prosecution for an offense punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for eight years or more or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for eight years or more shall be commenced within six years after commission of the offense." </p>

<p>Does that mean that to achieve a six year SOL, a prosecutor could use several offenses that total up to a prison term of eight years or more?</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Does that mean that to achieve a six year SOL, a prosecutor could use several offenses that total up to a prison term of eight years or more?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>No. The statute of limitations is just a <em>deadline</em> for prosecution of an offense or crime. Statutes of Limitations have nothing to do with "accumulation" in a context of multiple offenses.</p>

<p>If the SOL for a certain kind of offenses is six years, a prosecutor is allowed to proceed against a suspect or wrongdoer only for offenses of that kind which were committed less than six years ago (the notion of SOL also exists in civil court).</p>

<p>A prosecutor has no interest in "achieving" a SOL, since that would prevent him from getting the defendant sanctioned, incarcerated, or even subjected to court proceedings for that crime.</p>
