The year and a day rule refers to a legal period running from any date until the same date in the following year, such as from January 1 to January 1 of the next year. Traditionally, this period was understood to extend through December 31, not January 1. In common law, it served as the statute of limitations for filing certain claims and prosecuting specific crimes. Year and a day is a bright-line, common law rule that a person cannot be convicted of homicide for a death that occurs more than a year and a day after their act(s) that allegedly caused it. The rule arose from the difficulty of determining cause of death after an extended period of time. Like most common law principles, state legislatures or courts may modify or abolish this rule.
See, e.g. Rogers v. Tennessee, 532 U.S. 451 (2001).
[Last updated in July of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]