Title 29, Judicial Procedure, Criminal

A conviction cannot be had upon the testimony of an accomplice unless the accomplice is corroborated by such other evidence as tends to connect the defendant with the commission of the offense, and the corroboration is not sufficient if it merely shows the commission of the offen…

When it appears, at any time before verdict or judgment, that a mistake has been made in charging the proper offense, the defendant must not be discharged, if there appears good cause to detain the defendant in custody, but the court shall commit the defendant, or require the def…

If, after a mistake in charging an offense as is provided in section 29-21-15, a new information is not filed nor a new indictment found as is provided in rule 12 of the North Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure, the court shall proceed again to try the defendant on the original c…

The court may direct the jury to be discharged, when it appears that it has not jurisdiction of the offense, or that the facts charged in the information or indictment do not constitute an offense punishable by law.

If the jury is discharged because the court has not jurisdiction of the offense charged, and it appears that it was committed out of the jurisdiction of this state, the defendant must be discharged, unless the court orders that the defendant be detained for a reasonable time, to …

If an offense which the court is without jurisdiction to try was committed within the jurisdiction of another county of this state, the court may direct the defendant to be committed for such time as it deems reasonable to await a warrant from the proper county for the defendant'…

In the cases provided for in section 29-21-21, the clerk forthwith shall transmit a certified copy of the information or indictment and of all the papers filed in the action to the proper county, the expense of which transmission is chargeable to that county.

If a defendant is not arrested on a warrant from the proper county: 1. The defendant must be discharged from custody; 2. The defendant's bail in the action must be exonerated; or 3. Money deposited instead of bail must be refunded, as the case may be, and the sureties in the unde…

If a defendant, on a warrant from a proper county, is arrested, the same proceedings must be had thereon as upon the arrest of a defendant in another county, on a warrant of arrest issued by a magistrate.

If a jury is discharged because the facts as charged do not constitute an offense punishable by law, the court shall order that the defendant, if in custody, be discharged therefrom, or, if admitted to bail, that the defendant's bail be exonerated, or if the defendant has deposit…

When, in the opinion of the court, it is proper that the jurors should view the place in which the offense was charged to have been committed, or in which any other material fact occurred, it may order the jurors to be conducted in a body, in the custody of proper officers, to su…

The jurors sworn to try a criminal action, at any time before the cause is submitted to the jurors, in the discretion of the court, may be permitted to separate, or may be kept in charge of proper officers. The officers must be sworn to keep the jurors together until the next mee…

The jurors also, at each adjournment of the court, whether permitted to separate or required to be kept in charge of officers, must be admonished by the court that it is their duty not to converse among themselves nor with anyone else on any subject connected with the trial, nor …

The court, in its discretion, may restrict the argument to the jury in a criminal case to one counsel for the prosecution and one for each defendant.

The reporter of the court shall receive for writing out the oral instructions of the court the same fees as for making transcripts.

If the state's attorney fails or is unable to attend at the trial, the court may appoint some attorney at law to perform the duties of the state's attorney on such trial.

No pleading can be used in a criminal prosecution against the party as proof of a fact admitted or alleged in such pleading.

After hearing the charge, the jurors shall retire for deliberation to a room which must be provided for them by the board of county commissioners. Such room must be supplied with heat, light, and other conveniences. If a room is not provided by such board, the court may order the…

The jurors shall retire in charge of one or more officers who must be sworn to keep them together in some private and convenient place until they have rendered their verdict. Such officer or officers shall furnish food and other necessaries to the jurors, at the expense of the st…

The court shall appoint one of the jurors foreman or instruct the jurors to select one of their number as foreman.

Upon retiring for deliberation, the jurors may take with them: 1. All papers or things other than depositions which have been received as evidence in the cause, but if, in the opinion of the court, a public record or private document received in evidence should not be taken from …

The court may recall the jurors after they have retired to consider their verdict to give them additional instructions or to correct any erroneous instructions it has given them. Such additional or corrective instructions may be given only after notice to the state's attorney and…

While the jurors are absent, the court may adjourn from time to time as to other business, but it nevertheless is deemed open for every purpose connected with the cause submitted to them until a verdict is rendered or the jury is discharged.

When jurors are discharged or prevented from giving a verdict by reason of an accident or other cause, except when the defendant is discharged from the information or indictment during the progress of the trial or after the cause is submitted to them, the cause may be tried again…

When the jurors have agreed upon their verdict, they must be conducted into court by the officer having them in charge. Their names then must be called and if not all of them appear, the rest must be discharged without giving a verdict. In that case the cause must be tried again …

The verdict of the jurors may be rendered orally or in writing, as the jurors may elect, unless the court, at the time the case is submitted to the jurors, requires that it be rendered in writing. When the court so requires, the clerk of the court, under the direction of the cour…

When the jurors appear, they must be asked by the court or the clerk whether they have agreed upon their verdict and if the foreman answers in the affirmative, they, on being required, shall declare the same.

When the verdict given is such as the court may receive, the clerk immediately shall record it in full upon the minutes and shall read it to the jurors and inquire of them whether it is their verdict. If any juror disagrees, the fact must be entered upon the minutes and the juror…

The court, with the consent of the state's attorney and the defendant, may instruct the jurors that if they should agree upon a verdict during a temporary adjournment of the court, they may sign the same by their foreman, seal it in an envelope, and deliver it to the officer in w…

If the court authorizes the rendition of a sealed verdict, it shall admonish the jurors not to make any disclosure concerning it nor to speak with any other person concerning the cause until their verdict has been rendered in open court.

A verdict and additional or corrective instructions may be given on any day, including Sunday or any legal holiday.

Whenever the fact of a previous conviction of another offense is charged in the information or indictment, the jurors, if they find a verdict of guilty of the offense with which the defendant is charged, also must find whether or not the defendant has suffered such previous convi…

If the jurors return a verdict of guilty against the accused, the court, before it is accepted, shall ascertain whether it conforms to the law of the case. If, in the opinion of the court, the verdict does not conform to the requirements of the law of the case, the court, with pr…

When there is a verdict of conviction in which it appears to the court that the jurors have mistaken the law, the court may explain the reason for that opinion and may direct the jurors to reconsider their verdict. If, after the reconsideration, they return the same verdict, it m…

If the jurors render a verdict which is neither a general nor a special verdict, the court, with proper instructions as to the law, may direct them to reconsider it, and it cannot be recorded until it is rendered in such form that it can be clearly understood therefrom whether th…

If the jurors persist in finding a verdict such as is described in section 29-22-28 from which it can be clearly understood that their intention is to find in favor of the defendant upon the issue, it must be entered in the terms in which it is found, and the court shall give a j…

If a judgment of acquittal is given on a general verdict and the defendant is not detained for any other legal cause, the defendant must be discharged as soon as judgment is given.

If a general verdict is rendered against the defendant, or a special verdict is given, the defendant must be remanded, if in custody, or, if the defendant is at large on bail, may be committed to the proper officer of the county to await the judgment of the court upon the verdict…

A special verdict may be brought to argument by either party, upon two days' notice to the other, at the same or another term of the court.

If the jurors, in a special verdict, do not pronounce affirmatively or negatively on the facts necessary to enable the court to give judgment, or if they find the evidence of facts merely and not the conclusions of fact from the evidence, as established to their satisfaction, the…

If the defendant has been convicted or acquitted upon an information or indictment for an offense consisting of different degrees, the conviction or acquittal is a bar to another information or indictment for the offense charged or for any lower degree of that offense or for an o…

After the retirement of the jurors to consider their verdict, they may be discharged from the cause when: 1. The verdict has been returned and entered on the minutes of the court; 2. One of the jurors becomes so sick that that juror cannot continue to discharge that juror's duty …

1. The court shall offer, not more than ten hours of post-trial psychological counseling, without charge, to a juror or alternate juror who served on a trial jury in a trial involving extraordinarily graphic, gruesome, or emotional evidence or testimony. 2. The counseling offered…

The clerk of the district court in which any criminal action or proceeding is pending or tried shall enter, in the minutes of such court, each ruling or decision of the court made in open court, if such ruling is not noted by the official reporter. A certified copy of any or all …

Nothing in this title contained is to be construed so as to deprive either party of the right to take advantage of any action or decision of the court in a criminal action or proceeding which affects any other material or substantial right of either party, whether before or after…

Any error committed by the court in or by any decision, ruling, instruction, or other act, and appearing in the record of the action, may be taken advantage of upon a motion for a new trial or in the supreme court on an appeal.