Micah J. Schwartzbach Criminal Law Blog on Lawyers.com

After an investigation that lasted approximately seven months, in November of 2007, prosecutors in Maricopa County, Arizona charged Lisa Randall with the child abuse and first degree murder of a four-month-old baby she had cared for in her home. The prosecution concluded that the infant had died of blunt-force trauma to the neck and head. In January of 2008 the prosecution announced its intention to seek the death penalty for Ms. Randall. It later decided not to pursue the death penalty, but rather to seek life imprisonment.

However, on July 22, 2010, over three years after the infant's death and less than two weeks before Ms. Randall's trial was set to begin, the prosecution moved to dismiss charges against her, and the trial court later dismissed them with prejudice. The prosecution apparently decided to drop the charges in the face of recently obtained expert opinion regarding the infant’s cause of death.

Significant delays between the arrest and filing of charges are not uncommon in criminal cases. Nor is it entirely rare that an eventual criminal defendant is not charged until a lengthy period of time has elapsed since the alleged crime occurred. There is nothing inherently objectionable about a substantial interval between the occurrence of facts alleged to constitute a crime and the prosecution's decision to file charges. We undoubtedly do not want prosecutors feeling pressure to immediately file charges in cases that present complex factual issues. Moreover, statutes of limitations - except in the case of a crime such as murder - protect the would-be criminal defendant from having to wait his or her entire life wondering whether he or she will be charged with a crime.

Yet, the utter personal devastation that an innocent accused suffers, especially when authorities prolong the process of determining innocence beyond reasonableness, cannot be understated. Just ask Dr. Hootan Roozrokh, an organ transplant surgeon my father and I represented, who had to wait over 17 months before the San Luis Obispo District Attorney Office decided to file three criminal charges against him. The trial court dismissed two of these charges at the preliminary hearing, and Dr. Roozrokh was rightfully acquitted at trial, nearly three years after the facts underlying the case occurred.

Prosecutors and law enforcement agencies often face daunting case loads and presumably feel stretched too thin. However, those who conduct lengthy investigations before filing charges hold a moral, if not legal, duty to also take the time to make sure they "get it right."

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