How long does it take for an offender to be prosecuted? (crimes)

[17271]

In the United States, let's say someone committed a crime and the crime is reported, how long does it take police to show up and prosecute the person? Is there a time limit, for instance, within a year? I was watching TV shows on criminals and I was just wondering. Thanks.

[canibeyou]

It can take a long time, as the police don't prosecute anyone, the courts do. Lawyers for both sides, etc. battle it out in court. And even then, if they get convicted, there's a whole slew of appeals processes one can go through before a final judgement.

The police just take the report and that information is passed on to the various atty's. Once in a while they may be asked to testify in court as to what was in their report.

However, different crimes have different statue of limitations and even those can vary from state to state.

Does that make sense? LOL

[nitram]

To add to canibeyou's post...
TV shows are for entertainment purposes only. They rarely follow real life.
To answer your questions. Once a crime is reported the police generally show up immediately(within a few minutes to an hour depending on the seriouness of the crime) take a report, arrest those that need to be arrested, or citation for minor offenses.
Then the paper work is turned over to a prosecuting lawyer for further review and and if necessary a trial date is set. Some cases are settled within a few months, some a year or more.
The statute of limitations does vary for certain crimes, 5-6 years on most of them depending on jurisdiction. For serious crime like murder, there is no statute of limitations.
Hope this brief explanation helps answer your inquiry.