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PEOPLE v. WILLIAMS

California Supreme Court No. S069793

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ORAL ARGUMENT DATE: Date not available

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INTRODUCTION

Summary of Facts and Case
Summary of Argument

ARGUMENT - Part I

I. Stare decisis does not prevent this Court from establishing that a statute of limitations is an affirmative defense

A. Stare decisis and its limitations
B. Jurisdiction, waiver, or affirmative defense
C. History of the Court's treatment of statutes of limitations
1. Ex parte Blake and People v. McGee
2. The Cowan decision

D. Conclusion

Part II A - C

II. Policy reasons support recognizing a criminal statute of limitations as an affirmative defense

A. Purpose of criminal statutes of limitations
B. Avoiding gamesmanship
C. Expenditure of judicial resources

Part II D - Conclusion

D. Similarity of statutes of limitations to affirmative defenses
E. Constitutionality of the statute of limitations as an affirmative defense
F. Evidence of timeliness
G. Policies of civil statutes of limitations

III. Current jurisprudence favors treating the statute of limitations as an affirmative defense

Conclusion