Dallas Theft Case Delayed Years

Dallas residents may have read the story of a Dallas theft case that has been delayed for over six years. The case involved an investigation of a  Dallas salvage yard after police found 17 stolen vehicles on the property. The Dallas theft case has sat in a criminal district court for years with no explanation.

I was asked by reporter Kevin Krause if this was an unusual situation. Quite frankly this is a very long delay for this type of case. Judges usually don’t let a case linger for years on their docket.

Some criminal cases can be delayed for great lengths of time. For example a highly complex white collar crime case can take years to resolve. These types of cases have thousands of documents which require hundreds of hours of review before the case can be resolved.

Sometimes cases are delayed because both sides are waiting for restitution money to be collected or for the defendant to complete some type of therapy. Delays can also occur if the case requires witnesses to be brought in from other parts of the country.

Delay can often benefit the defendant. Over time witnesses memories fade or the witness may disappear or die. A witness could also get arrested on new criminal charges which would damage their credibility with a jury.