Lawmakers Want to Remove Deadline for Rape Prosecutions
Originally published by The Associated Press, January 21, 2002
Nine years ago, a stranger approached Victoria Nunley of Springfield to ask directions. When she turned to leave, Nunley says, the man grabbed her by the hair, yanked her into the woods and raped her.
Afterward, police investigators took semen samples as evidence—and Nunley waited for justice that never came.
That's partly because rapes by strangers are hard to solve. But even if a suspect were identified today through DNA, the state of the law in Missouri is now such that it might be too late to prosecute him.
For decades, Missouri prosecutors could file rape charges no matter how much time passed after the crime. But in a 2000 ruling, the Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District interpreted state law as imposing a three-year statute of limitations on rape.
When Nunley learned of that, she was devastated.
"At that point, I felt like he had gotten away with rape again," said Nunley, now 33 years old.
Legislators now are moving to clarify the law, and Nunley plans to testify.
Prosecutors were shocked at the ruling and not everyone agrees with it, said Rep. Ralph Monaco, D-Raytown, and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Last year, he said, the Court of Appeals' Eastern District ruled the opposite way in a similar case.
That leaves two of the appeals courts' three districts in conflict, and the Missouri Supreme Court will someday have to resolve the disagreement, Monaco said.
But observers expect that if the Supreme Court does take a rape case where the prosecution deadline is at issue, the court will lean in the favor of the three-year statute of limitations.
"Everyone pretty much agrees that the logic the Western Court used would prevail if it went to the Supreme Court," said Jackson County prosecutor Bob Beaird.
So lawmakers want to spell it out plainly in state law.
The issue is a major one for prosecutors because technology now allows police to use genetic evidence in solving crimes years after they occur.
"Rape is a lifetime crime. It may only occur once, but it marks a woman's life. The emotional damage doesn't go away," said Rep. Cindy Ostmann, R-St. Peters. "Why should a woman be burdened with a lifetime of memories and know that her rapist can go free?"
Rep. Craig Hosmer, D-Springfield, agreed.
"The reason we have no statute of limitations for crimes like murder, kidnapping and arson is because they are more serious," he said. "Rape is in the same category as those crimes and should have the same statute of limitations."
Hosmer and Monaco are among of a handful of lawmakers who have filed legislation addressing the issue.
"There are bills you like and that you'd like to see pass. This is one that really needs to pass," Beaird said.
Since the Western District's ruling, Beaird has been filing charges against "John Doe" in anonymous rape cases where police say DNA evidence gives the rapist an identity.
In one such case, Beaird filed charges against a John Doe who followed an 81-year-old woman home on Christmas Eve three years ago, then beat and repeatedly raped her.
Last year, lawmakers tried to pass similar legislation to fix the problem, but it failed after it got lumped in with a larger crime bill.
Proponents of this year's bill expect little opposition, except from people who are afraid an unlimited filing deadline would allow a person to claim rape at any time.
Beaird dismisses that concern, saying charges can't be filed against a person without evidence, such as DNA samples.
"Man cannot conceive a law that would be passed that can't be twisted. What people need to rely on is that the people filing these cases have common sense," Beaird said.
He added that even if a prosecutor manipulates the law to do an injustice, a jury still has to convict the person.
On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on several rape bills. Nunley plans to testify.
If lawmakers enact a bill, it probably won't help Nunley.
When statutes of limitations have been revised in the past, courts have typically ruled that the new deadlines apply only to crimes that occur after the new law takes effect, said Jill Geary, an assistant prosecutor in Greene County.
After Nunley's attack nine years ago, she had nightmares, her marriage failed and she struggled to return to normalcy.
She said the mere hope of justice helped her get through it all. Now, hope is gone.
"In my case, if he could have been prosecuted at any time, it wouldn't have really mattered to him," Nunley said. "But it would have made me feel better."
