GREENFIELD — A judge has dismissed the criminal case brought against a Greenfield man because the statute of limitations has passed.
Elden Dejarnett Jr., 52, stood accused of sexual battery by a woman who told police Dejarnett repeatedly touched her inappropriately nearly 10 years ago when she was a teenager.
Prosecutors filed three felony counts against Dejarnett in late March; but last week, the man’s defense attorney asked the judge to dismiss the case, arguing too much time has lapsed since the alleged crime occurred.
This week, prosecutors submitted their own request to the judge, admitting the case was filed outside of the statute of limitations. The judge ordered the case dismissed immediately.
Dejarnett pleaded not guilty to the allegations prior to the dismissal, records show.
Statutes of limitation exist to ensure physical evidence and eyewitness accounts don’t deteriorate over time. Different cases have different limits, according to state law.
The three felony counts Dejarnett faced – sexual battery, criminal confinement and intimidation – each expired after five years.
The woman who accused Dejarnett said the behavior occurred between October 2010 and October 2012, according to court documents. The charges needed to be filed before October 2017 for the case to be upheld.
A woman came to the Greenfield Police Department in February, telling detectives that she babysat for Dejarnett for two summers when she was a teenager, court document state.
Jon Keyes, Dejarnett’s attorney, also argued in his motion to dismiss that the timeframe was too vast and the woman’s charges too non-specific for this client to mount a proper defense.
“(The) defendant cannot adequately defend himself if he does not know what touching he is accused of committing,” Keyes wrote in the motion.
“The two-year range listed in the charging information is so great that the defendant cannot even file an alibi defense because he would essentially have to account for his whereabouts over an entire two-year period,” Keyes argued.
Deputy Prosecutor Cathy Wilson said she spoke with the alleged victim this week to make she understood why the case had to be dismissed.
Wilson said she respects a victim’s right to choose whether or not to come forward but hopes people understand that timelines do come into play in some cases.
“It’s their choice in how to handle the matter; but if they want pursue criminal action, they need to be aware that time makes a difference,” she said.
Keyes did not return a call for comment.