State v. Gonzales

OPINION

CARPENETI, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

In 1992 Andrew Gonzales was accused of sexually abusing the ten-year old daughter of his girlfriend. Following the accusation Gonzales fled the state and the child required extensive psychiatric hospitalization. Gonzales did not resurface for ten years, at which point the state presented his case to a grand jury, which indicted Gonzales. The superior court dismissed the case against Gonzales after finding that the ten-year pre-indictment delay was not reasonable and had resulted in actual prejudice. The court of appeals upheld this dismissal. We…