Form of Indictment: Standards for Indicting

(a) An indictment is an accusation in writing, presented by the grand jury to a competent court, charging a person with a felony or a felony and a related misdemeanor. (b) The grand jury shall find an indictment when from the evidence presented there is reasonable cause to believe that an indictable offense has been committed and that the defendant committed it. (c) Special Fictitious Name Indictment means an indictment of a person whose name is unknown but whose identity is established to the satisfaction of a grand jury by means of forensic Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) testing of evidence. The caption of a special fictitious name indictment shall include a fictitious name, such as “John Doe” or “Jane Doe”, in place of the name of the defendant whose true name is unknown. COURT DECISIONS: SUPERIOR COURT 1979. "Using the >reasonable cause' standard provided by § 50.54(b) of [this Title], the Court finds that the prosecution did establish sufficient evidence of the corpus delicti. People v. Quitugua, Sup. Ct. 1979, Cr. #102F-79. D.C. GUAM APP. DIV. People v. Grajo, DCA 86-00002 (1987) Applying cited standards to facts, it is clear the Grand Jury could "clearly have had a strong suspicion that Grajo had murdered De Jesus." NOTE: Subsection (a) of § 50.54 is based on § 889 of the California Penal Code. Subsection (b) is based on California Penal Code § 939.8. The term "indictable offense" means a felony or a felony and a related misdemeanor. See § 1.15. For additional requirements, see § 55.10 (former Rule 7(c)). SOURCE: Amended by P.L. 29-042:1 (Jan. 2, 2008).