Case Name: Commonwealth v. Robert Vanmeter
Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Kentucky
Decision Date: 1876-10-04
Citations: 8 Ky. Op. 754
Docket Number: 
Parties: Commonwealth v. Robert Vanmeter.
Judges: 
Reporter: Kentucky Opinions, containing the unreported opinions of the Court of Appeals
Volume: 8
Pages: 754–755

Head Matter:
Commonwealth v. Robert Vanmeter.
Criminal Law — Amendment.
An indictment can only be found and presented by a grand jury and no amendment can be allowed.
Warrant.
A warrant in a criminal case may be amended.
APPEAL PROM HARDIN CIRCUIT COURT.
October 4, 1876.
Attorney-general, for appellant. J. P. PJobson, for appellee.

Opinion:
Opinion by
Judge Cofer :
The warrant in this case is in substantial conformity to the requirements of Secs. 24 and 321 of the Criminal Code, and the court erred in quashing it. If it had not been originally sufficient the amendment proposed should have been allowed. The amendment would not have changed the character of the prosecution, nor would it have infringed the rule that the case tried in the circuit court, on appeal, must be the same case which was tried in the inferior court.
An indictment can only be found and presented by a grand jury, and therefore no amendment of an indictment can be allowed. But a warrant which issues upon information may be amended in the same manner as a warrant in a civil case. Judgment reversed and cause remanded, with directions to overrule the motion to quash the warrant.