Ex parte Ulloa

by
Appellant Mike Ulloa was charged with two counts of tampering with physical evidence. The alleged date of the offenses was December 21, 2009. The offenses were originally charged by complaint and information on February 2, 2011. They were then charged by indictment on May 3, 2011. This indictment was dismissed on April 17, 2012. The offenses were again charged by complaint and information on February 26, 2014. The offenses were ultimately charged in the current indictment on August 20, 2015. No provision specifically prescribed a limitations period for tampering with physical evidence, so the catch-all provision for felonies applied, providing a limitations period of three years. The court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial of habeas relief when Appellant challenged the timing of the indictments. The State argued limitations was tolled during the pendency of the informations by virtue of Article 12.05. The time period between those two dates exceeded three years, but two informations were filed in this case. Each information was terminated by the return of an indictment. If the time periods between the filing of each information and the return of the corresponding superseding indictment were excluded, then less than three years elapsed for limitations purposes. The question presented for the Court of Criminal Appeals was whether these informations were pending for the purpose of Article 12.05. The Court concluded that it did. Consequently, the Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals. View "Ex parte Ulloa" on Justia Law