INDICTMENT. 



:, 'tit before tliem to be true. But when fuch accufation is 

 I 1 by a grand jury, without any bill brought before tliem, 

 and afterward reduced to a formed iiidiament, it is called a 

 prclentment ; and wlien it is found by jurors returned to en- 

 quire of that particular offence only, which is indicted, it is 

 properly called an inqnifitiou. 



Althongli a bill of indictment may be preferred to a grand 

 jury upon oath, they are not bound to iind the bill, if they 

 find caufe to the contrary ; and though a bill of uidictment 

 be brought to them without oath made, they may find the 

 bill if they fee caufe. But it is not ufual to prefer a bill 

 UMto them before oath be firil made in court, that the 

 evidence they are to give unto the grand inqueil to prove the 

 bill is true. 



The grand jury (fee Jury) are to find the whole of a bill, 

 or to reject it ; and not to find it fpecially in part, &c. If 

 they are fatisfied of the truth of the accufation, they then 

 indorfe upon the bill of indiftment " a true bill,'' anciently 

 liilla vera. But t.) find a bill, there muil at leaft twelve of 

 the jury agree. The indictment, when fo found, is publicly 

 delivered into court. 



As indiftments are purely for the good and quiet of the 

 commonwealth, they are to be preferred for criminal, not 

 civil matters. They are ufed in cafes of high treafon, and 

 petit treafon, felony, and trefpaffes of all kinds, and in all 

 pleas of the crown ; tliough they cannot be ufed for injuries 

 of a private nature, that neither concern the king nor the 

 public; and therefore all indiftments ought to be brought 

 for offences committed againft the common law, or aganill 

 ftatutes ; and not for every flight mifdemeanor. A perfon 

 cannot be indicled of fuipicion of felony, but of the 

 very crime itfelf ; and then if he be not in cullody, the 

 fheriff is commanded to attach his body by a capias, &c. A 

 perfon indicted for felony may have connfel allowed to fpeak 

 for him, as to matter of law only ; but fuch as are indicted 

 for treafon may have a copy of their indiiftment before trial, 

 in order to advifc with counfel ; and fuch indictments arc to 

 be found within three years after the offence committed, un- 

 . lefs the treafon be directly agaiait the king's perfon. (7 and 

 8 W. HI. cap. 3. which is extended to trials on impeach- 

 ments by zS Geo. II. cap. :;o. ) Perfons indicted of treafon 

 muft be by the oaths of two witneffes ; but in other cafes one 

 wituefs is fufficient. The prifoner, in this cafe, (hall alfo 

 have a copy of the indictment, but not the names of the 

 witnelfcs, five days at leaft before the trial, i. e. upon the 

 true conftru£lion of the aCl 7 W. III. cap. j. before his 

 arraignment ; he Ihall alfo have a copy of the panel of jurors 

 two days before his trial ; and he ftiall have the fame coni- 

 pi:lfive proccfs to bring in his v.itnefies for him, as was ufual 

 to compel their appearance againft him. By 7 Ann. cap. 21. 

 every perfon indicted for high treafon, or mifpnfion of trea- 

 fon, fhall not only have a copy of the indiftment, but a hit 

 of all the witneffes to be produced, and of the jurors im- 

 panelled, with their profeffions and places of abode, deliver- 

 ed to him ten days before the trial, and in the prefence of two 

 tt-itnCiTes. But this lall act, fo far as it affected indiftments 

 for the inferior fpecies of high treafon, refpe£ting tlie coin 

 and royal feals, is repealed by the ftatute 6 Geo. III. 

 cap. 53. But no perfon indicted lor felony is, or (as the law 

 ftand^) can be, entitled to fuch copies, before the time of 

 his trial. 



Indiftments muft be certain in every point, and charge 

 fome particular offence ; alfo goods ftolen muft be particu- 

 larly fet down, and the offence laid pofitively, and not by 

 way of recital. There muft alfo be expreffed the Chrillian 

 name, furname, and addition of the offender, with the day, 

 year, and place in which the offence was committed, as alfo 

 3 



the nature of the offence, (i Hen. V. cap. J.) Tn an 

 indici incut for murder, the Icui^th, dejjth, or other dimen- 

 fions of the wound, mull be expreffcii, that a judgment may 

 be formed whether it was mortal ; and in this cafe, the tin-.o. 

 of the d»ath muft be laid within a year and a day after the 

 mortal ftroke was given. (Sec Appeal ) And in felony, 

 the value of the things ftolen is to be particularly mention- 

 ed, in order that it may appear whether the offender has 

 been guilty of grand or petit larciny. A miftake in fpell- 

 ing the defendant's furname is not a fufficient cauie for abat- 

 ing the indictment, provided it founds like it. If a word of 

 confequence be omitted in an indiAment, it renders the 

 whole naught ; but the cafe is not the fame where a word of 

 form is omitted, or where there is an omiffion of a fynony- 

 mous word, if the fenfe is not injured. In fome crimes par- 

 ticular words of art muft be ufed, which are fo appropriated 

 by the law to exprefs the precife idea which it entertains of 

 the offence, that no other words, however fynonynious they 

 may feem, are capable of doinjr it. Thus, in treafon, the 

 fafts muft be laid to be done " treafonably, and agaiuli his 

 allegiance ;" anciently, prodhorie et contra Jigiantiie fue dell- 

 /:/»;;" elfe the indictment is void. In indictments for mur- 

 der, it is neceffary to fay that the party indicted " murder- 

 ed," not " killed" or " flew" the other ; which, till the late 

 ftatute, was expreffed in Latin by tlie word " nwnlnivli." 

 In all indiftments for felonies, the adverb •♦ feloiiiuul3y, 

 feJon'tce," muil be ufed ; and for burglaries alfo " lui\^liirUer," 

 or in Englilh, " burglarioufly ;" and all theie to afcertain the 

 intent. In rapes the word " rapuit," or " ravifhed," is ne- 

 ceffary, and muft not be expreffed by any periphrafis ; in 

 order to render the crime certain. So alfo in larcinies, the 

 words" fc/onice cepit et fl/^Joc/rti)/';," "feloniouflytookandcarrKd 

 away," are neceffary to every mdidtment ; for thefe only can 

 exprefs the very of'ence. In cafe one part of an indiftment is 

 inconfiftent wit h another part of it, theiiidictment becomes void ; 

 though where the lenfe is plain, the court will difpenfe with a 

 fniall inconfiltency. Indictments are amendable the lame term 

 they are brought into court, but not afterwards ; and in cri- 

 minal profecutions, the amendment muft be only fuch as i.-f 

 permitted by the common law. Indidtments for crimes 

 committed, ought to be laid in the county where they were 

 done ; for otherwife, upon pleading the general iffue not 

 guilty, if it appears that the offence was committed in an- 

 other county or place different from that in the mdidtment, 

 the defendant will be acquitted. Yet if larciny be com.- 

 mitted in any one county, and the goods carried into 

 another, the offender may be indicted in either for the 

 ofi'ence is complete in both, (i Hal. P.C. J07 ) Or, he 

 may be indicted in England for larciny m Scotland, and car- 

 rying the goods with him into England, or vice ver/d; or 

 for receiving in one part of the united kingdoms goods that 

 have been ftolen in another. (Stat. Geo. HI. c. 31.) But 

 for robbery, biuglary, and the like, he can only be indicted 

 where the faCt was actually committed ; for though the car- 

 rying away and keeping of the goods is a continuation of 

 the original taking, and is therefore larciny in the fecond 

 county, yet it is not a robbery or burglary in that jurif- 

 diftion. And if a perfon be indicted in one county for larciny 

 of goods originally taken lu another, and be thereof con- 

 victed or ftands mute, be fhall not be admitted to his clergy ; 

 provided the original taking be attended with fuch circum- 

 ftances, as would have ouiled him of his clergy by virtue 

 of any ftatu'e made previous to the year 1691. (Stat. 

 25 Hen. VIII. 3 W. and M. c. 9. 



An offender is fubjeCt to indictment for a felony com- 

 mitted againll a perfon unknown ; yet foii:cbody muft be 

 proved to be the proprietor upon the trial, or elfc the property 



will 



