Arguing recently for the repeal of Connecticut’s statute of limitations for sex offenses, Laura Cordes, executive director of the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, declared, “Justice should not have an expiration date.”
But justice often does have an expiration date, and not because of statutes of limitations but rather because as time passes evidence inevitably is lost, memories fade, and witnesses die or disappear, making it impossible to mount a complete and effective prosecution or defense.
Connecticut’s current statute of limitations for sex offenses is five years, but who can prove his whereabouts and conduct for the whole of a day even a month ago? The timeliness of evidence is especially crucial with sexual offense charges because they often are mainly matters of contradictory witness testimony, matters of credibility that can’t be verified.
