An Act To Extend the Statute of Limitations for the Prosecution of the Crime of Robbery
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §8, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2013, c. 392, §1, is further amended to read:
2. Except as provided in subsection subsections 2-A and 2-B, prosecutions for crimes other than murder or criminal homicide in the first or 2nd degree, or, if the victim had not attained the age of 16 years at the time of the crime, prosecutions for: incest; unlawful sexual contact; sexual abuse of a minor; rape or gross sexual assault, formerly denominated as gross sexual misconduct, are subject to the following periods of limitations:
A. A prosecution for a Class A, Class B or Class C crime must be commenced within 6 years after it is committed; and
B. A prosecution for a Class D or Class E crime must be commenced within 3 years after it is committed.
Sec. 2. 17-A MRSA §8, sub-§2-B is enacted to read:
2-B. A prosecution for a Class A or Class B crime of robbery must be commenced within 12 years after it is committed.
Sec. 3. Application. This Act applies to the crime of robbery under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section 651 committed on or after the effective date of this Act or for which the prosecution has not yet been barred by the statute of limitations in force immediately prior to the effective date of this Act.
summary
This bill extends the statute of limitations for prosecution of a Class A or Class B crime of robbery from 6 years to 12 years following commission of the crime.