Does a plea of not guilty raise the affirmative statute of limitations defense?

In sum, appellants failed to raise the defense at the trial level, unless it can be said that a plea of not guilty, standing alone, put the statute of limitations into issue. We do not believe that it did. ⁵ While a "not guilty" plea puts into issue every fact essential to constitute the offense, i.e., the elements of the offense, see United States v. England, 347 F.2d 425, 431 (7th Cir.1965), the statute of limitations is not an element of the crime charged. ⁶ Instead the statute simply limits the government's power to prosecute the case. A plea of not guilty does not in and of itself raise other affirmative defenses which restrict the power to prosecute. See, e.g., United States v. Friedland, 391 F.2d 378, 381 (2d Cir.1968), (collateral estoppel defense not raised at trial even though defendant pleaded not guilty); cert. denied, 404 U.S. 867, 92 S.Ct. 143, 30 L.Ed.2d 111 (1971); Barker v. Ohio, 328 F.2d 582, 584 (6th Cir.1964) (double jeopardy defense not raised at trial even though defendant pleaded not guilty). Thus, we see no reason to hold that the plea of not guilty, by itself, raised the affirmative statute of limitations defense here. Appellants therefore have waived their statute of limitations objection to the count seven convictions.