"It will just expire..." – Why is it risky to wait in criminal cases? | Legal Defense

Many people think that an old crime or an unenforced sentence will "be forgotten on its own" over time. However, this misconception holds serious dangers. This is because in law, we are talking about two different things: different rules apply to the crime itself (its punishability), and completely different rules apply to a sentence that has already been legally finalized.