Opinion ID: 535716
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Tolling Effect of the Indictment

Text: 10 In certain circumstances, the filing of an indictment may serve to toll the statute of limitations for purposes of filing a superseding or new indictment after the limitations period has expired. 11 A superseding indictment brought after the statute of limitations has expired is valid so long as the original indictment is still pending and was timely and the superseding indictment does not broaden or substantially amend the original charges. United States v. Grady, 544 F.2d 598, 602 (2d Cir.1976). See also, United States v. Edwards, 777 F.2d 644, 649 (11th Cir.1985); United States v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., Inc., 785 F.2d 777, 779 (9th Cir.1986); United States v. Friedman, 649 F.2d 199, 203-04 (3rd Cir.1981). For purposes of the statute of limitations, the charges in the superseding indictment are defined not simply by the statute under which the defendant is indicted, but also by the factual allegations that the government relies on to show a violation of the statute. 12 Notice to the defendant is the central policy underlying the statutes of limitation. If the allegations and charges are substantially the same in the old and new indictments, the assumption is that the defendant has been placed on notice of the charges against him. That is, he knows that he will be called to account for certain activities and should prepare a defense. See Grady, 544 F.2d at 601. 13 The case of a new indictment, brought after the limitations period has expired, is controlled by 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3288, which provides that the indictment must be returned within a certain time after the original indictment is found defective: 14 Whenever an indictment is dismissed for any error, defect, or irregularity with respect to the grand jury, or an indictment or information filed after the defendant waives in open court prosecution by indictment is found otherwise defective or insufficient for any cause, after the period prescribed by the applicable statute of limitations has expired, a new indictment may be returned in the appropriate jurisdiction within six calendar months of the date of the dismissal of the indictment or information, or, if no regular grand jury is in session in the appropriate jurisdiction when the indictment or information is dismissed, within six calendar months of the date when the next regular grand jury is convened, which new indictment shall not be barred by any statute of limitations. 15 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3288. 3 The notice considerations that permit tolling in cases of superseding indictments apply in the case of new indictments as well. That is, the limitations period will only be tolled if the charges and allegations in the new indictment are substantially the same as those in the original indictment. The Ninth Circuit has held that the underlying concept of section 3288 is that if the defendant was first indicted within the limitations period, then approximately the same facts may be used for the basis of any new indictment, if the earlier indictment runs into legal pitfalls. United States v. Charnay, 537 F.2d 341, 354 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1000, 97 S.Ct. 527, 528, 50 L.Ed.2d 610 (1976) (emphasis added) (quoting Mende v. United States, 282 F.2d 881, 883-84 (9th Cir.1960), cert. denied, 364 U.S. 933, 81 S.Ct. 379, 5 L.Ed.2d 365 (1961)). In sum, an untimely indictment can only be saved by the section 3288 exception if it does not broaden or substantially amend the original charges tolled by the previous indictment.