Is Statute of Limitations 'Tolled' for Crimes Not Charged at Time Defendant Fled to Avoid Trial on Other Charges?

Where New Charges Not Filed Until After Legal Deadline Had Expired

State of Ohio v. Larry Bess, Case no. 2009-1196

8th District Court of Appeals (Cuyahoga County)

ISSUE: R.C. 2901.13(G) "tolls" (stops the running of) the legal time limit within which the state must prosecute a criminal offense during time periods "when the accused purposely avoids prosecution." In this case, the Court is asked to apply that statute to a case in which a defendant fled the state in 1989 to avoid prosecution for criminal acts for which an indictment was then pending, remained at large for 18 years before being returned to Ohio to face those charges, and was subsequently indicted for additional crimes that were committed before he fled, but that were not discovered or charged until 2007, after the statutory deadline for prosecution of those crimes had expired.
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