Is there a statute of limitations for murder in Nevada?

No. Under NRS 171.080, there is no statute of limitations for murder charges in Nevada. This means there is no time limit for the prosecution to charge a murder suspect.

Even if decades pass on a cold case, prosecutors can still charge you if they acquire sufficient evidence implicating you in killing the victim.

Murder Elements

Murder is the illegal and malicious killing of another person. Nevada law classifies murder as either first-degree or second-degree.

First-degree murder encompasses:

• premeditated killing;
• aiding and abetting a premeditated killing (accomplice liability); and
• felony murder, which is killing while done in the commission of a serious felony, such as:
  • rape,
  • burglary,
  • home invasion,
  • arson,
  • kidnapping,
  • robbery,
  • child abuse,
  • elder abuse, or
  • sexual abuse of a child.

Second-degree murder encompasses unintentional killings where you acted so recklessly that a fatality was foreseeable. Examples are:

• playing Russian roulette, and someone is killed; or
• unintentionally causing a person to die by giving them drugs.¹

Murder Penalties

The punishment for murder under NRS 200.030 depends on whether you were convicted of first- or second-degree murder, as the following table shows:

The judge can increase sentences by one to 20 years if either:

• you used a deadly weapon to commit the murder, or
• the victim was at least 60 years old.²

A murder conviction can be sealed from your record 10 years after the case closes as long as the victim was an adult. If the victim was a child, then murder charges can never be sealed.³

Murder Defenses

I have represented several people facing charges for murder or attempted murder. In my experience, the following six defenses have proven very effective with prosecutors, judges, and juries.

1. You had no intention of causing death (which is a defense only for first-degree murder charges);
2. You were insane at the time of the killing;
3. You were acting in lawful self-defense or defense of others;
4. Police coerced your confession;
5. The police violated the Fourth Amendment by conducting an unlawful search and seizure; and/or
6. The police or witnesses wrongly identified you as the killer.

Statute of Limitations for other Homicide Offenses

In Nevada, the statute of limitations for the prosecution to bring an attempted murder charge is usually three years. However, the time limit is extended to five years if a police report was filed within the first three years.⁴

There is also a three-year statute of limitations for the prosecution to bring the following homicide charges:

• voluntary manslaughter,
• involuntary manslaughter,
• vehicular homicide, and
• feticide.⁵

Finally, there is a one-year statute of limitations for the prosecution to bring charges of vehicular manslaughter, which is only a misdemeanor.⁶

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• The Law of Unintended Consequences Strikes Again: Does Murder Have a Statute of Limitations Now: The Sky Will Fall Unless the Supreme Court Changes Its Interpretation of the Right of Confrontation – Drake Law Review.
• Murder Felony is Felony Murder: How the Nevada Supreme Court’s Decision in Nay v. State Reflects the Growing Misconception Surrounding Afterthought Robbery – Nevada Law Journal
• The Stickiness of Felony Murder: The Morality of a Murder Charge – Mississippi Law Journal
• How Should We Punish Murder – Marquette Law Review
• Rape, Murder, and Formalism: What Happens if We Define Mistake of Law – University of Colorado Law Review

Learn more about statutes of limitations in Nevada criminal cases.

Legal References