204 Conn. 98 | Conn. | 1987
This appeal requires us to determine the interrelationship between General Statutes § 53a-69,
The facts relevant to this appeal are undisputed. The sexual assault charge against the defendant was based on information provided to the Watertown police by the mother of the alleged victim. The mother told police that the defendant had sexually molested her daughter on or about February 18,1981, when the child was six years old. The mother said that the child had first told her of the incident on January 20, 1986. Relying on this information, the state determined that it would prosecute the defendant for sexual assault in the first degree. Accordingly, the state sought a warrant for the defendant’s arrest which was issued on February 28, 1986. The defendant was arrested on March 27,1986.
Because the charging documents indicated that his prosecution had not been begun until more than five years after February 18, 1981, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss the information against him. The defendant alleged, and the trial court concluded, that his prosecution was barred by the provisions of the applicable statute of limitations, § 54-193 (b), under which “[n]o person may be prosecuted . . . except within five years next after the offense has been committed.” The trial court rejected the contention of the state that § 53a-69 imposes a different time limitation for prosecution in sexual assault cases by effectively tolling the running of the § 54-193 (b) statute of limitations.
In defining the interrelationship between §§ 53a-69 and 54-193 (b), our goal is to “ascertain and give effect to the apparent intent of the legislature” in enacting that statute. Rhodes v. Hartford, 201 Conn. 89, 93, 513 A.2d 124 (1986); State v. Kozlowski, 199 Conn. 667, 673, 509 A.2d 20 (1986). A guiding principle of our inquiry is that criminal statutes, and in particular criminal statutes of limitation, should be strictly construed in favor of the accused. State v. Paradise, 189 Conn. 346, 352, 456 A.2d 305 (1983).
Although §§ 53a-69 and 54-193 (b) both restrict the state’s power to prosecute crimes, the two statutes serve distinct purposes. Section 54-193 (b) limits the time period within which a crime may successfully be prosecuted, regardless of when law enforcement authorities receive notice of the criminal complaint which leads to prosecution. Section 53a-69, by contrast,
The state claims that, because § 53a-69 affords child victims of sexual assaults an extended period of time to give notice of criminal complaints, a similar period must be interpolated into the § 54-193 (b) statute of limitations to toll its operation until the victim reveals the offense to a proper party.
The state maintains that the state’s public policy of providing special protection to children requires us to
We note, moreover, that the protection of children is not the only public policy implicated in this appeal. Statutes of limitations, like § 54-193 (b), further important policy interests by “ ‘foreclos[ing] the potential for inaccuracy and unfairness that stale evidence and dull memories may occasion in an unduly delayed trial.’ (Emphasis in original.) United States v. Levine, 658 F.2d 113, 127 (3d Cir. 1981).” State v. Coleman, 202 Conn. 86, 91, 519 A.2d 1201 (1987). We have deemed these policies sufficiently significant to require the strict construction of statutes of limitations even in civil cases; see Daily v. New Britain Machine Co., 200 Conn. 562, 584, 512 A.2d 893 (1986); Vilcinskas v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 144 Conn. 170, 174-75, 127 A.2d 814 (1956). In a criminal case, where a defendant’s liberty is at stake, the necessity for such a strict construction is even more compelling. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court properly dismissed the information against the defendant because of the state’s failure to commence prosecution within five years of the commission of the alleged offense, as required by § 54-193 (b).
There is no error.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
“[General Statutes] Sec. 53a-69. time limitation foe complaint. No prosecution may be instituted or maintained under this part unless the alleged offense was brought to the notice of public authority within one year of its occurrence or, where the alleged victim was less than sixteen years old or incompetent to make complaint, within one year after a parent, guardian or other competent person specially interested in the alleged victim learns of the offense.”
“[General Statutes (Rev. to 1981)] Sec. 54-193. limitation of prosecutions for various offenses. . . . (b) No person may be prosecuted for any offense, except a capital felony or a class A felony, for which the punishment is or may be imprisonment in excess of one year, except within five years next after the offense has been committed. No person may be prosecuted for any other offense, except a capital felony or a class A felony, except within one year next after the offense has been committed.”
“[General Statutes (Rev. to 1981)] Sec. 53a-70. sexual assault in the FIRST degree: class B felony, (a) A person is guilty of sexual assault in the first degree when such person compels another person to engage in sexual intercourse by the use of force against such other person or a third person, or by the threat of use of force against such other person or against a third person which reasonably causes such person to fear physical injury to such person or a third person.
“(b) Sexual assault in the first degree is a class B felony.”
The state does not dispute the trial court’s conclusion that, for purposes of calculating the period of limitations under General Statutes § 54-193 (b), the commencement of prosecution was the issuance of the warrant for the defendant’s arrest. See State v. Crawford, 202 Conn. 443, 450-52, 521 A.2d 1034 (1987).
Apparently, under the state’s construction of General Statutes § 53a-69, the operation of General Statutes § 54-193 (b) would also be tolled when the alleged minor victim reaches the age of sixteen. We need not consider the validity of this construction because the alleged victim in this case was eleven years old at the time she informed her mother of the alleged incident. Furthermore, our ultimate conclusion in this case is that § 53a-69 does not toll the statute of limitations in § 54-193.