# Mistrial and Statute of Limitations

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mistrial-and-statute-of-limitations/789505>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 21, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mistrial-and-statute-of-limitations/789505 "2017-06-21T03:24:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ishamael69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@ishamael69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ishamael69)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mistrial-and-statute-of-limitations/789505/1 "2017-06-21T03:24:01Z")

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From what I recall pretrial, charges were filed against Bill Cosby shortly before the statute of limitations expired. Now with the mistrial, is there any further limitation on how long the state can wait before retrying, or will Cosby have to live the rest of his life wondering if a new trial will start tomorrow?

Second, I recall an article asking Nevada (I think) to consider changing its statute of limitations so that another accuser would be able to bring suit. Would that be possible if the existing statute had already expired? Wouldn’t that violate the prohibition of ex post facto laws?

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**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mistrial-and-statute-of-limitations/789505/2 "2017-06-21T03:39:45Z")

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> [@ishamael69](#):
>
> From what I recall pretrial, charges were filed against Bill Cosby shortly before the statute of limitations expired. Now with the mistrial, is there any further limitation on how long the state can wait before retrying, or will Cosby have to live the rest of his life wondering if a new trial will start tomorrow?

The statute of limitations tracks time until indictment. Cosby has been indicted.

What now comes into play is the speedy trial clock. Not sure how Pennsylvania works, but it appears that Pa Rule 600 gives the Commonwealth a year to retry him.

> [@](#):
>
> Second, I recall an article asking Nevada (I think) to consider changing its statute of limitations so that another accuser would be able to bring suit. Would that be possible if the existing statute had already expired? Wouldn’t that violate the prohibition of ex post facto laws?

Yes. In _Stogner v. California_ the Supreme Court held that extending the criminal statute of limitations after it has expired violates the Ex Post Facto clause. It’s permissible for civil lawsuits to be revived this way, but not criminal prosecutions.

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**Author:** ![ishamael69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@ishamael69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ishamael69)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mistrial-and-statute-of-limitations/789505/3 "2017-06-21T03:45:45Z")

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Wow, thanks for the speedy answer!