Local lawmakers are pushing to pass legislation that would eliminate the statute of limitations when prosecuting someone accused of a deadly hit-and-run.
Pete’s Law would allow prosecutors to file charges any time new evidence identifies a suspect.
Right now, prosecutors only have five years from the date of the incident to charge someone.
The bill is named for Peter Ververs. Police say the 23-year-old died in 2006 after he was killed in a hit-and-run crash on Skinner Road in the town of Marion. The driver of that car, which left the scene, was not identified before the five-year statute of limitations expired.
(Spectrum News 1)
State Sen. Pamela Helming, a Republican who represents the state’s 54th district, is one of the main supporters of the bill.
“It could take witnesses years to come forward, and today there’s so many new advances with technology that it’s possible that investigators could uncover evidence, you know, past that five-year mark,” said Helming. “The bottom line for me is that if they find that evidence, they need to bring those charges and our laws should allow prosecutors to take action, not hold them back.”
The bill has yet to be brought to the floor for a vote in either house of the New York State Legislature.