{"id":86,"date":"2019-05-17T13:34:09","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T13:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legaldebtdismissal.com\/?p=86"},"modified":"2019-05-17T22:20:40","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T22:20:40","slug":"dismissed-with-prejudice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legaldebtdismissal.com\/dismissed-with-prejudice\/","title":{"rendered":"How Long Can A Case Be Dismissed With Prejudice?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a judge dismissed a case, an important question that one should ask is whether the case was dismissed with or without prejudice?<\/em><\/strong> The reason is that how long a case is dismissed depends on the nature of the dismissal. Moreover, a dismissal does not always end a prosecution for good. It mostly depends on the nature of the charge (such as a DUI case, debt case, or child support case) and the nature of the dismissal as well.<\/p>\n

For some simple offense such as driving under the influence (DUI) first offense or possession of controlled substances, first offense, and other related charges, once a judge dismisses the charges, it’s done. The defendant will become totally free of that particular offense and can never be re-prosecuted for that particular charge again. However, the opposite is the case for those that committed aggravated misdemeanors such as possession of controlled substance, second offense or driving under influence second offense. In such cases, the nature of the case dismissal will hugely depend on whether or not the charge can be re-filed by the prosecutor even after it has been dismissed.<\/p>\n

Dismissed With or Without Prejudice: What Does It Mean?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dismissing a case with or without prejudice is a legal term use to describe how a case is dismissed by a judge. For those hearing the term for the first term, it will sound like the case that was “dismissed with prejudice”<\/em> was done so because of a judge’s racism or something of that nature – This is not true.<\/p>\n

A case that is dismissed with prejudice<\/em><\/strong> means that the case has been permanently dismissed, it’s over and done with and can’t be brought back to court. On the other hand, a case dismissed without prejudice<\/em><\/strong> means the opposite. The case has not been dismissed forever when it is dismissed without prejudice and the person whose case it is can try again.<\/p>\n

Dismissal of a case without prejudice must be constitutional and not violate the rights of the accused. Acceptable grounds for dismissal without prejudice may be that the government is still gathering evidence and it is not yet fully ready to proceed with the criminal case. Unavailability of a witness is another solid ground for dismissing a case without prejudice. Dismissal without prejudice is by far the most common form of dismissal.<\/p>\n

How Long to Re-file?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Just because a judge declared a case dismissed “without prejudice” does not mean that the case can be re-filed. The prosecutor and the judge need to follow a certain procedure before they can be able to re-file a charge even when the dismissal order says that the charge is dismissed “without prejudice”.<\/p>\n

Re-filing a case that was dismissed without prejudice needs serious work; the prosecutor must correct his\/her mistakes before coming back to court. He should avoid anything that will warrant the judge dismissing the case for the second without prejudice because once a judge dismisses a case for the second time without prejudice, the case can never be brought to court again. The prosecutor can re-file right away if he believes that he has corrected his mistakes, he can as well re-file before the statute of limitation on that case runs out.<\/p>\n

For prosecutors looking to re-file for misdemeanors such as DUI case, debt case, or child support, you need to act quick as the statute of limitations on such case is one year from the date the State becomes aware of the situation leading to the charges. Most felony cases have a statute of limitation of 7 years. A case can be re-filed within the time the case was brought up and the date it reaches its statute of limitation. The time, however, can be extended by 6 months, although this depends on how much time remains under the statute of limitations.<\/p>\n

You should check with your State Legislature website to find out the appropriate Statute of Limitation for each case. In Arizona, according to \u00a0A.R.S. 13-107 website, the following are statute of limitation for various offenses, meaning you can re-file within these periods:<\/p>\n