After five different sexual assault allegations came out over the past week, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office has launched an investigation into Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli, following a bombshell report from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Regardless of what this new investigation turns up, some of the allegations may be beyond the reach of prosecutors because they are more than a decade old, dating back to 2003.
Santa Rosa-based criminal defense attorney Traci Carrillo told KCBS Radio that the dates of the alleged incidents could be a barrier to Foppoli getting charged.
“Statute of limitations is what can prevent the District Attorney from actually charging a crime,” Carrillo said. She added that because of recent changes to the law, it is not immediately clear where the statute of limitations actually lies in some of these cases.
“It’s very fact-dependent,” she said. “You just don’t know until you get in, you’re interviewed and there’s an analysis.”
Those earlier allegations could, however, still come up in court if prosecutors attempt to use them to demonstrate a pattern of abusive behavior in the eye of the jury.
“The evidence may still be significant for a crime, for example, that occurred later that is within the statute of limitations,” Carrillo said.
Foppoli has denied the allegations.