§3292 Suspension of Limitations to Permit United States to Obtain Foreign Evidence

Summary

Lets a court pause the time limit for bringing criminal charges when the United States asks a foreign government for evidence. The government must ask before an indictment is returned, and the judge must find it is more likely than not that a formal request was made and the evidence is or was in the other country. The judge must decide the request within 30 days. The pause starts when the official request is made and ends when the foreign authority gives final action. All pauses for one offense cannot total more than three years, and they cannot delay the deadline to start a case by more than six months if the foreign authorities act before the original deadline would have run out. An “official request” means a letter rogatory, a treaty or convention request, or any other official request from a U.S. court or law-enforcement office to a foreign court or authority.