Title 19 — CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

19-1701. Demurrer or plea. The only pleading on the part of the defendant is either a demurrer or a plea.

19-1702. Demurrer or plea — When interposed. Both the demurrer and plea must be put in, in open court, either at the time of the arraignment or at such other time as may be allowed to the defendant for that purpose.

19-1703. Ground for demurrer. The defendant may demur to the indictment when it appears upon the face thereof, either: 1. That the grand jury by which it was found had no legal authority to inquire into the offense charged, by reason of its not being within the legal jurisdiction…

19-1704. Form of demurrer. The demurrer must be in writing, signed either by the defendant or his counsel, and filed. It must distinctly specify the grounds of objection to the indictment, or it must be disregarded.

19-1705. Argument on demurrer. Upon the demurrer being filed, the argument upon the objections presented thereby must be heard, either immediately or at such time as the court may appoint.

19-1706. Judgment on demurrer. Upon considering the demurrer, the court must give judgment either allowing or disallowing it, and an order to that effect must be entered upon the minutes.

19-1707. Effect of judgment. If the demurrer is allowed, the judgment is final upon the indictment demurred to, and is a bar to another prosecution for the same offense, unless the court, being of the opinion that the objection on which the demurrer is allowed may be avoided in a…

19-1708. Discharge of defendant. If the court does not direct the case to be resubmitted, the defendant, if in custody, must be discharged, or if admitted to bail, his bail is exonerated, or if he has deposited money instead of bail, the money must be refunded to him.

19-1709. Resubmission of charge. If the court directs that the case be resubmitted, the same proceedings must be had thereon as when the indictment is set aside on motion.

19-1710. Plea after disallowance. If the demurrer is disallowed, the court must permit the defendant at his election to plead, which he must do forthwith, or at such time as the court may direct. If he does not plead, the plea of not guilty must be entered for him.

19-1711. Objections must be taken by demurrer. When the objections declared grounds of demurrer by this chapter appear upon the face of the indictment, they can only be taken by demurrer, except that the objections to the jurisdiction of the court over the subject of the indictme…

19-1712. Kinds of pleas. There are four (4) kinds of pleas to an indictment. A plea of: 1. Guilty. 2. Not guilty. 3. A former judgment of conviction or acquittal of the offense charged, which may be pleaded either with or without the plea of not guilty. 4. Once in jeopardy.

19-1713. Form of pleas. Every plea must be oral, and entered upon the minutes of the court in substantially the following form: 1. If the defendant pleads guilty: "The defendant pleads that he is guilty of the offense charged." 2. If he pleads not guilty: "The defendant pleads th…

19-1714. Plea of guilty. A plea of guilty can be put in by the defendant himself only in open court, unless upon indictment against a corporation, in which case it may be put in by counsel. The court may at any time before judgment, upon a plea of guilty, permit it to be withdraw…

19-1715. Plea of not guilty. The plea of not guilty puts in issue every material allegation of the indictment, information or complaint except that mental disease or defect excluding responsibility may be raised as a defense only in the manner provided for in this act.

19-1716. Evidence admissible under plea of not guilty. All matters of fact tending to establish a defense other than former conviction or acquittal, or once in jeopardy, may be given in evidence under the plea of not guilty.

19-1717. What is not a former acquittal. If the defendant was formerly acquitted on the ground of variance between the indictment and the proof, or the indictment was dismissed upon an objection to its form or substance, or in order to hold the defendant for a higher offense, wit…

19-1718. What is a former acquittal. Whenever the defendant is acquitted on the merits he is acquitted of the same offense, notwithstanding any defect in form or substance in the indictment on which the trial was had.

19-1719. Conviction or acquittal bars included offenses. When the defendant is convicted or acquitted, or has once been placed in jeopardy upon an indictment, the conviction, acquittal or jeopardy is a bar to another indictment for the offense charged in the former, or for an att…

19-1720. Refusal to answer. If the defendant refuses to answer the indictment by demurrer or plea, a plea of not guilty must be entered.

19-1801. Ground for removal. A criminal action, prosecuted by indictment, may be removed from the court in which it is pending, on the application of the defendant, on the ground that a fair and impartial trial cannot be had in the county where the indictment is pending.

19-1802. Form of application — Hearing in absence of defendant. The application must be made in open court and in writing, verified by the affidavit of the defendant, a copy of which must be served upon the prosecuting attorney at least one (1) day before the application is made.…

19-1803. Order of removal. If the court is satisfied that the representation of the defendant is true, an order must be made for the removal of the action to the proper court of a county free from a like objection.

19-1804. Transfer of cause. The order of removal must be entered upon the minutes, and the clerk must immediately make out and transmit to the court to which the action is removed a certified copy of the order of removal, record, pleadings and proceedings in the action, including…

19-1805. Removal of defendant. If the defendant is in custody, the order must direct his removal, and he must be forthwith removed by the sheriff of the county where he is imprisoned to the custody of the sheriff of the county to which the action is removed.

19-1806. Proceedings after removal. The court to which the action is removed must proceed to trial and judgment therein as if the action had been commenced in such court. If it is necessary to have any of the original pleadings or other papers before such court, the court from wh…

19-1807. Certification of costs. The clerk of the court in the county to which such action is, or may be, removed must certify the amount of said costs to the auditor of the proper county, which must be allowed and paid as other county charges.

19-1808. Removal on application of state. The district courts of this state, within their respective districts, are hereby empowered to change the place of trial in criminal cases, other than misdemeanors, upon the application of the state, on the relation of the county attorney …

19-1809. Removal on application of state — Form of application. Such application must be made in open court and in writing, verified by the affidavit of the relator, a copy of which must be served upon the defendant or his attorney at least one (1) day before the application is m…

19-1810. Removal on application of state — Order. If the court is satisfied, from the facts set forth in such application and affidavit, that a fair and impartial trial cannot be had, an order must be made for the removal of the action to the proper court of a county free from a …

19-1811. Removal on application of state — Transfer of cause. The order of removal must be entered upon the minutes, and the clerk must immediately make out and transmit to the court to which the action is removed a certified copy of the order of removal, record, pleadings and pr…

19-1812. Removal on application of state — Removal of defendant. If the defendant is in custody, the order must direct his removal, and he must be forthwith removed by the sheriff of the county where he is imprisoned to the custody of the sheriff of the county to which the action…

19-1813. Removal on application of state — Proceedings after transfer. The court to which the action is removed must proceed to trial and judgment therein as if the action had been commenced in such court. If it is necessary to have any of the original pleadings or other papers b…

19-1814. Removal on application of state — Certificate of costs. The clerk of the court in the county to which said action is, or may be, removed must certify the amount of said costs to the auditor of the proper county, which must be allowed and paid as other county charges.

19-1815. Removal on application of state — Appeal from order denying application. The sufficiency, in both law and fact, of the application and supporting affidavits may be reviewed by the supreme court on appeal from an order of the district court denying such application, and s…

19-1816. Impaneling jury from another county. (a) As an alternative to entering the order of removal provided in the preceding sections of this chapter, the court may instead enter an order directing that jurors be impaneled from the county to which venue would otherwise have bee…

19-1901. Issue of fact defined. An issue of fact arises: 1. Upon a plea of not guilty. 2. Upon a plea of a former conviction or acquittal of the same offense. 3. Upon a plea of once in jeopardy.

19-1902. Trial by jury. Issues of fact must be tried by jury, unless a trial by jury be waived in criminal cases by the consent of both parties expressed in open court and entered in the minutes. In case of misdemeanor the jury may consist of six (6) or any number less than six (…

19-1903. Presence of defendant. If the indictment is for a felony, the defendant must be personally present at the trial; but if for misdemeanor, the trial may be had in the absence of the defendant.

19-1904. Additional jurors. A court may direct that one (1) or more jurors in addition to the regular panel be called and impaneled to sit as alternate jurors. All jurors shall be drawn in the same manner, shall have the same qualifications, shall be subject to the same examinati…

19-1905. Jury to be formed as in civil actions. Trial juries for criminal actions are formed in the same manner as trial juries in civil actions.

19-1906. Preparation of calendar. The clerk must prepare a calendar of all criminal actions pending in the court, enumerating them according to the date of the filing of the indictment, specifying opposite the title of each action whether it is for a felony or a misdemeanor, and …

19-1907. Order of trying cases. The issues on the calendar must be disposed of in the following order, unless upon application of either party, for good causes shown by affidavit, and upon two (2) days’ notice to the opposite party, with service of a copy of the affidavit in supp…

19-1908. Time to prepare for trial. After his plea the defendant is entitled to at least two (2) days to prepare for trial.

19-1909. Trial may be postponed for cause. When an indictment is called for trial, or at any time previous thereto, the court may, upon sufficient cause, direct the trial to be postponed to another day of the same or of the next term.

19-1910. pretrial risk assessment tools. (1) All pretrial risk assessment tools shall be transparent, and: (a) All documents, data, records, and information used by the builder to build or validate the pretrial risk assessment tool and ongoing documents, data, records, and writte…

19-2001. Kinds of challenge. A challenge is an objection made to trial jurors and is of two kinds: 1. To the panel. 2. To an individual juror.

19-2002. Defendants must join in challenge. When several defendants are tried together they can not sever their challenges, but must join therein.

19-2003. Panel defined. The panel is a list of jurors returned by a sheriff to serve at a particular court or for the trial of a particular action.

19-2004. Challenge to panel defined — Who may take. A challenge to the panel is an objection made to all the jurors returned, and may be taken by either party.