Title 19, CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

19-1407. Rules of pleading. All the forms of pleading in criminal actions, and the rules by which the sufficiency of pleadings is to be determined, are those prescribed by this code.

19-1408. First pleading is indictment. The first pleading on the part of the people is the indictment.

19-1409. Requirements of indictment. The indictment must contain: 1. The title of the action, specifying the name of the court to which the indictment is presented, and the names of the parties. 2. A statement of the acts constituting the offense in ordinary and concise language,…

19-1410. Form of indictment. It may be substantially in the following form: The state of Idaho against A.B., in the district court of the …. judicial district, in the county of ….. …. term, ….. A.B. is accused by the grand jury of the county of …. by this indictment, of the crime…

19-1411. Certainty required of indictment. It must be direct and certain as it regards: 1. The party charged. 2. The offense charged. 3. The particular circumstances of the offense charged, when they are necessary to constitute a complete offense.

19-1412. Indictment by fictitious name. When a defendant is indicted by a fictitious or erroneous name, and in any stage of the proceedings his true name is discovered, it must be inserted in the subsequent proceedings, referring to the fact of his being indicted by the name ment…

19-1414. Allegation as to time. The precise time at which the offense was committed need not be stated in the indictment; but it may be alleged to have been committed at any time before the finding thereof, except where the time is a material ingredient in the offense.

19-1415. Erroneous designation of person injured. When an offense involves the commission of, or an attempt to commit, a private injury, and is described with sufficient certainty in other respects to identify the act, an erroneous allegation as to the person injured, or intended…

19-1416. Construction of words. The words used in an indictment are construed in their usual acceptance in common language, except such words and phrases as are defined by law, which are construed according to their legal meaning.

19-1417. Words of statute. Words used in a statute to define a public offense need not be strictly pursued in the indictment; but other words conveying the same meaning may be used.

19-1418. Sufficiency of indictment. The indictment is sufficient if it can be understood therefrom: 1. That it is entitled in a court having authority to receive it, though the name of the court be not stated. 2. That it was found by a grand jury of the county in which the court …

19-1419. Defects of form. No indictment is insufficient, nor can the trial, judgment, or other proceeding thereon, be affected, by reason of any defect or imperfection in matter of form, which does not tend to the prejudice of a substantial right of the defendant upon its merits.

19-1420. Amendment of indictment. An indictment or information may be amended by the prosecuting attorney without leave of the court, at any time before the defendant pleads, and at any time thereafter, in the discretion of the court, where it can be done without prejudice to the…

19-1421. Presumptions and facts judicially noticed. Neither presumptions of law nor matters of which judicial notice is taken, need be stated in an indictment.

19-1422. Pleading judgments. In pleading a judgment or other determination of, or proceeding before, a court or officer of special jurisdiction, it is not necessary to state the facts constituting jurisdiction; but the judgment or determination may be stated as given or made, or …

19-1423. Pleading private statutes. In pleading a private statute, or a right derived therefrom, it is sufficient to refer to the statute by its title and the day of its passage, and the court must thereupon take judicial notice thereof.

19-1424. Indictment for libel. An indictment for libel need not set forth any extrinsic facts for the purpose of showing the application to the party libeled, or of the defamatory matter on which the indictment is founded; but it is sufficient to state generally that the same was…

19-1425. Misdescription of forged instrument. When an instrument which is the subject of an indictment for forgery has been destroyed or withheld by the act or the procurement of the defendant, and the fact of such destruction or withholding is alleged in the indictment and estab…

19-1426. Indictment for perjury. In an indictment for perjury, or subornation of perjury, it is sufficient to set forth the substance of the controversy or matter in respect to which the offense was committed, and in what court and before whom the oath alleged to be false was tak…

19-1427. Indictment for larceny or embezzlement. In an indictment for the larceny or embezzlement of money, bank notes, certificates of stock, or valuable securities, or for a conspiracy to cheat or defraud a person of any such property, it is sufficient to allege the larceny or …

19-1428. Indictment for selling obscene books. An indictment for exhibiting, publishing, passing, selling, or offering to sell, or having in possession, with such intent, any lewd or obscene book, pamphlet, picture, print, card, paper, or writing, need not set forth any portion o…

19-1429. Conviction or acquittal of several defendants. Upon an indictment against several defendants, any one or more may be convicted or acquitted.

19-1430. Distinction between accessories and principals abolished. The distinction between an accessory before the fact and a principal and between principals in the first and second degree, in cases of felony, is abrogated; and all persons concerned in the commission of a felony…

19-1431. Trial of accessories without principal. An accessory to the commission of a felony may be indicted, tried, and punished, though the principal may be neither indicted nor tried.

19-1432. Charging two or more offenses in same indictment. Two (2) or more offenses may be charged in the same indictment or information in a separate count for each offense if the offenses charged, whether felonies or misdemeanors or both, are of the same or similar character or…

19-1433. Unnecessary to negate statutory defenses in certain cases. In any complaint, information, or indictment, and in any action or proceeding brought for the enforcement of any of the provisions of chapters 22, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, or 33, title 37, Idaho Code, it shall…

19-1501. Place of arraignment. When the indictment is filed, the defendant must be arraigned thereon before the court in which it is found.

19-1502. Presence of defendant. If the indictment is for a felony the defendant must be personally present; but if for a misdemeanor, he may appear upon the arraignment by counsel.

19-1503. Order for production of defendant. When his personal appearance is necessary, if he is in custody, the court may direct and the officer in whose custody he is must bring him before it to be arraigned.

19-1504. Issuance of bench warrant. If the defendant has been discharged on bail, or has deposited money instead thereof, and does not appear to be arraigned when his personal attendance is necessary, the court, in addition to the forfeiture of the undertaking of bail or of the m…

19-1505. Clerk to issue warrant. The clerk, on the application of the prosecuting attorney, may, at any time after the order, whether the court is sitting or not, issue a bench warrant to one (1) or more counties.

19-1506. Form of bench warrant. The bench warrant upon the indictment must, if the offense be a felony, be substantially in the following form: County of ….. The state of Idaho, to any sheriff, constable, marshal or policeman of this state: An indictment having been found on the …

19-1507. Bail. The defendant, when arrested under a warrant for an offense not bailable, must be held in custody of the sheriff of the county in which the indictment is found, unless admitted to bail after an examination upon a writ of habeas corpus; but if the offense is bailabl…

19-1508. Service of warrant. The bench warrant may be served in any county, in the same manner as a warrant of arrest.

19-1509. Proceedings on giving bail. If the defendant is brought before a magistrate of another county for the purpose of giving bail, the magistrate must proceed in respect thereto in the same manner as if the defendant had been brought before him upon a warrant of arrest, and t…

19-1510. Increasing bail. When the indictment is for a felony and the defendant, before the finding thereof, has given bail for his appearance to answer the charge, the court to which the indictment is presented may order the defendant to be committed to actual custody, unless he…

19-1511. Commitment of defendant. If the defendant is present when the order is made he must be forthwith committed. If he is not present a bench warrant must be issued and proceeded upon in the manner provided in this chapter.

19-1512. Right to counsel. If the defendant appears for arraignment without counsel he must be informed by the court that it is his right to have counsel before being arraigned, and must be asked if he desires the aid of counsel.

19-1514. Arraignment, how made. The arraignment must be made by the court, or by the clerk or prosecuting attorney, under its direction, and consists in reading the indictment to the defendant and delivering to him a copy thereof and of the endorsements thereon, including the lis…

19-1515. Question as to true name of defendant. When the defendant is arraigned he must be informed that if the name by which he is indicted is not his true name, he must then declare his true name, or be proceeded against by the name in the indictment. If he gives no other name …

19-1516. Time allowed for answer. If, on the arraignment, the defendant requires it, he must be allowed a reasonable time, not less than one (1) day, to answer the indictment. He may, in answer to the arraignment, move to set aside, demur, or plead to, the indictment.

19-1601. Grounds for setting aside indictment. The indictment must be set aside by the court in which the defendant is arraigned, upon his motion, in either of the following cases: 1. When it is not found, endorsed and presented as prescribed in this code. 2. When the names of th…

19-1602. Waiver of objections. If the motion to set aside the indictment is not made the defendant is precluded from afterward taking the objections mentioned in the last section.

19-1603. Hearing and disposition of motion. The motion must be heard at the time it is made, unless for cause the court postpones the hearing to another time. If the motion is denied, the defendant must immediately answer the indictment, either by demurring or pleading thereto. I…

19-1604. Order for resubmission. If the court directs the case to be resubmitted, the defendant, if already in custody, must so remain, unless he is admitted to bail; or, if already admitted to bail, or money has been deposited instead thereof, the bail or money is answerable for…

19-1605. Order no bar to future prosecution. An order to set aside an indictment, as provided in this chapter, is no bar to a future prosecution for the same offense.