Opinion ID: 2183912
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Adequacy of Indictment

Text: The grand jury returned two indictments for robbery against Evans. Each indictment consists of two pages; one page describes the offense and the other lists the witnesses. Evans' motion to dismiss the robbery indictments was denied. Counsel claims that the indictments do not comply with Ind. Code § 35-34-1-2(b), which requires that they be signed by the grand jury foreman or by five of its members or by the prosecutor. Both pages of both indictments are in fact signed by the foreman. Counsel also claims that the indictments fail under Indiana Code § 35-34-1-2(c), which requires that they contain the names of the material witnesses. We can only gather that counsel believes that the statute requires dismissal of an indictment which names the witnesses on a separate page. He is mistaken. More importantly, Evans alleges that the indictment fails to contain a statement of the essential facts constituting the offense, as required under Ind. Code § 35-34-1-2. The pertinent allegations constituting one of the robbery counts, for example, read: ... Delmon Evans, James Tyrone Smith, Anthony Watkins and Willie Lee Murphy, on or about the 19th day of March, 1985, at and in the County of Delaware, State of Indiana, (did) knowingly take property, to-wit: United States currency, billfold, and drivers' license, from other person, to-wit: ROBERT COOK, by the use of force on said ROBERT COOK, while armed with deadly weapons, to-wit: a switchblade knife, rocks and pieces of concrete, resulting in serious bodily injury to the said ROBERT COOK... . Evans' argument apparently rests on the failure to specify the physical acts which Evans contributed to the robbery. Such specificity is not required, particularly when accessory liability is alleged and the acts of the defendant's confederates can be attributed to him. Where the charging instrument informs the defendant of the offense with which he is charged, the time and the place of its commission, the victim's identity and the type of weapon used, the instrument is drafted with sufficient specificity and need not disclose the specific conduct by the defendant which led to the injury. Moody v. State (1983), Ind., 448 N.E.2d 660.