12 I N D I C 
appear that the offence was done in a county different 
from that in which the indictment was found, the defen¬ 
dant fhall be acquitted. H. P. C. 203. Kel. 15. If there 
be an acceffory in one county to a felony committed in 
another, the acceffory may be indiCted and tried in the 
fame county wherein he was acceffory. 2 & 3 Edw. VI. 
C. 24. An indictment being found in the proper county, 
may (in fome cafes) be heard and determined in any other 
county, by fpecial commiffion. 3 Injl. 27. In the two 
laft rebellions, ftatutes paffed empowering the crown to 
try the traitors in any county. 
Indictments muft have a precife and fujftcicnt certainty. By 
flat. 1 Hen. V. c. 5, all indictments mult let forth the 
chriltian name, Surname, and addition of the Itate and de¬ 
gree, myltery, town or place, and county, of the offen¬ 
der; and all this to identify his ptrfon. The time. and 
place are alfo to be ascertained, by naming the day and 
townfhip in which the faCt w»as committed ; though a 
miftake in thefe points is in general not held to be mate¬ 
rial, provided the time be laid previous to the finding 
of the indiftment, and the place be within the jurisdic¬ 
tion of the court; unlefs where the place is laid, not 
merely as a venue, but as part of the defeription'of the faCt. 
2 Hawk. P. C. c. 25. But Sometimes the time may be ma¬ 
terial, where there is any limitation in point of time af- 
figned for the profecution of offenders, as by 7 Will. III. 
c. 3 i which enaCts, that no profecution lliall be had for 
any of the treafons or mifprifions therein mentioned, (ex¬ 
cept an affallination defigned or attempted on the perfon 
of the king,)- unlefs the bill of indictment be found with¬ 
in three years after the offence committed. Fojl. 249. 
And, in cafe of murder, the time of the death muff be 
laid within a year and a day after the mortal ltroke was 
given. 
The offence itfelf muff be fet forth with clearnefs and 
certainty; and, in fome crimes, particular words of art 
muff be ufed, which are fo appropriated by the law to ex- 
prefs the precife idea which it entertains of the offence, 
that no other words, however Synonymous they may leem, 
are capable of doing it. Thus, in treafon, the faCts muff be 
laid to be done, “ treafonably, and againff his allegiance;” 
anciently, proditorie et contra ligeantia fua debitum •; elfe the 
indictment is void. In indictments for murder, it is ne- 
ceffary to fay, that the party indiCted murdered, not killed 
or Jlew, the other, which w’as expreffed in Latin by the 
word murdravit. In all indictments for felonies, the ad¬ 
verb feloniovjly muff be ufed ; and for burglaries alfo, 
burglariter, or in Englilh burglarioufy ; and all thefe to af- 
-certain the intent. In rapes, the word rapuit, or ravijhed , 
is neceflary, and muff not be expreffed by any periphrafis 
in order to render the crime certain. So in larcenies alfo, 
the words felonice cepit et afportavit [felonioufly took and 
carried aw'ay] are neceflary to’ every indictment; for thefe 
only can exprefs the very offence. Alfo in indictments 
for murder, the length and breadth of the wound fhould 
in general be expreffed, in order that it may appear to the 
courttohave beenofamortal nature; but, if it goes through 
the body, then its dimenfions are immaterial, for that is 
apparently Sufficient to have been the caufe of the death. 
Alfo, where a limb, or the like, is absolutely cut off’, there 
fuch defeription is impoflible. 5 Rep. 122. 
Alfo in indictments the value of the thing, which is the 
fubjeCt or infffument of the offence, mult fometimes be 
expreffed. In indictments for larcenies this is neceflary, 
that it may appear whether it be grand or petit larceny, 
and whether entitled or not to the benefit of clergy. In 
homicide likewife, becaufe it is neceflary the weapon with 
which it is committed is forfeited to the king as a deo- 
dand. 4 Comm. c. 23. 
When an indictment is drawn upon a ftatute, it ought 
to purfue the words of it, if a private a£l ; but it is other- 
wile on a general Jlatute ; it is belt not to recite a public 
ftatute ; the recital is not neceflary, for the judges are 
bound ex ojjicio to take notice of all public ftatutes, and 
•ssrif-recitals are fatal j So that it is the furelt way only to 
TME N T. 
conclude generally “againft the form of the fhrtute.’? 
4 Rep. 48. If a word of fubjlance be omitted in the in¬ 
dictment, the whole indictment is bad; but it is other- 
wife where a word of form is omitted; or there is an omif- 
fion of a Synonymous w-ord, where the fenfe is the fame, 
&c. Judgment Shall not be given by ftatute, upon an in¬ 
dictment which doth not conclude contra formant Jlatuti ; 
and judgment by ftatute (hall never be given on an in¬ 
dictment at common law, as every indictment which doth 
not thus conclude (hall be taken to be. But, where per- 
fons are indiCted on the ftatute of /tabbing, and the evi¬ 
dence is not fuflicient to bring them within the ftatute, 
they may be found guilty of general manflaughter at com¬ 
mon law, and the words contra formam Jlatuti be rejected as 
ufelefs ; in other cafes the fame has been alfo adjudged ; 
though formerly it was held, that an indictment grounded 
on a ftatute, which would not maintain it, could not in 
any cafe be maintained as an indictment at common law. 
2 Hawk. P.C. 25. $ 4, 
An indictment againft two or more, laying the faCt in 
the (ingular number,.as if againft one, hath been held in¬ 
sufficient. 2 Hawk. c. 25. A mifnomerof the defendant’s 
furname will not abate the indictment, as it will in cafe 
of the name of baptifm ; and, if there be a miftake in Spel¬ 
ling, if it founds like the true name, it is good. A per¬ 
fon may be indiCted for felony againft an unknown per- 
l’on ; and when the name of one killed is unknown, -or 
goods are ftolen from a perfon that cannot be known, it 
is Sufficient to fay in the indictment that one unknown 
was killed by the perfon indiCted, or that he Itole the 
goods of one unknown. Wood's Inf .624. But, though an 
indictment may be good for Healing the goods of a per¬ 
fon unknown, yet a property muff be proved in fomebody 
at the trial ; otherwife it lhall be prefumed to be in the 
prifoner, by his pleading Not guilty. Mod. Caf. in L. SB E. 
249. Where a perfon injured is known, his name ought 
to be put into the indictment. 2 Hawk. c. 25. 
IndiSlments may be amended the fame term wherein 
brought into court, and not after. But criminal profe- 
cutions are not within the benefit of the ftatutes of amend¬ 
ments ; fo that no amendment can be made to an indiB- 
ment, See. but fuch only as is allowed by the common 
law. 2 Lil. 45. The body of a bill of indictment removed 
into the king’s bench may not be amended, except from 
London, where the tenor only of a record is removed j 
though the caption of an indictment from any place may, 
on motion, be amended by the clerk of the afiife, &c. fo 
as to make it agree with the original record. Captions of 
indiElments ought to fet forth the court in which, and the 
jurors by whom, and alfo the time and place at which, 
the indictment was found ; and that the jurors were of the 
county, city, See. Alfo they muft Ihow that the indict¬ 
ment was taken before fuch a court as had jurisdiction 
over the offence indiCted. 2 Hawk. P.C. c. 25. While the 
jury who found a bill of indictment is before the court, 
it may be amended by their confent in matter of form, 
the name, or addition of the party, See. Kel. 37. Clerks 
of the affile and of the peace, &c. drawing defective bills 
of indictment, fhall draw new bills without fee,' and take 
but 2S. for drawing any indictment againft a felon, &c. 
on pain of forfeiting 5I. 10S 11 Will. III. c. 23. 
Many objections to indictments are over-ruled. 5 Rep. 
120. Where an.indictment is void for insufficiency, or if 
the trial is in a wrong county, another indictment may 
be drawn for the fame offence, nvhereby the insufficiency 
may be cured ; and the indictment may be laid in ano¬ 
ther county, (it is Said,) though judgment be given. See 
4 Rep. 45, a. Sed. qu. if the judgment Ihould not be re- 
verfed for error, before the party be arraigned upon a fe- 
cond indictment ? By the common law, the court may 
quafh any indictment for fuch insufficiency as will make 
the judglhent thereon erroneous ; but the court may refufe 
to quafh an indictment preferred for the public good,, 
though it be not a good indictment, and put the party to 
traverle, or plead to it. Mich. 2a Car. B, R, The court 
1 doth 
