COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to decide how long prosecutors have to charge someone for the crime of attempted murder or attempted aggravated murder.
There is no statute of limitations on the prosecution of murder or aggravated murder under Ohio law. At issue before the court is whether the same law also covers unsuccessful attempts at murder.
Attorneys for a man arrested in 2019 and later convicted of attempted aggravated murder for a 1993 attack on a woman in Logan County in southeastern Ohio argue the statute of limitations for that crime ended after six years.
Prosecutors call that “absurd,” noting the statute of limitations for the far less serious crime of burglary is 20 years.
The 19-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and left for dead after her throat was cut, but survived, according to state Supreme Court records. The man was arrested after police used new DNA-tracing techniques to link him to the crime, records show.
The court on Tuesday accepted the case, with any decision months in the future.
