Opinion ID: 2615075
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Does the Second Information Charge an Offense?

Text: Appellant's position in arguing this appeal is that the document which urges the habitual-criminal sentencing enhancement is fatally defective in that it fails to charge an offense. It is to be emphasized, however, that the second information incorporates by reference the first information which had properly charged the crime of burglary. Black's Law Dictionary (5th Ed. 1968) defines incorporation by reference as: The method of making one document of any kind become a part of another separate document by referring to the former in the latter, and declaring that the former shall be taken and considered as a part of the latter the same as if it were fully set out therein. As applied to this case, incorporation by reference means that the burglary charge contained in the first criminal complaint becomes a part of the second criminal complaint, thus amending the face of the second. By this device, the second instrument must be read to include both the burglary and the prior felonies and, as so interpreted, it meets the requirements of § 6-1-111(a), W.S. 1977. The force of the record in the instant case is to the effect that the second information stands as an amendment to the first one. Rule 9(c), W.R.Cr.P. contemplates that the filing of an amended information will be accomplished by leave of court. The rule says: An information may be amended in matter of form or of substance at any time before the defendant pleads without leave of court. The court may permit an information to be amended at any time before verdict or finding if no additional or different offense is charged and if substantial rights of the defendant are not prejudiced. Appellant had already been arraigned on the burglary charges, so it would have been preferable to obtain leave of court. However, it is not error to amend an information without leave of court. Whiteley v. State, Wyo., 418 P.2d 164, 166 (1966); Whiteley v. State of Wyoming, 293 F. Supp. 381, 383 (D.Wyo. 1968), rev'd on other grounds, sub nom. Whiteley v. Warden, 401 U.S. 560, 91 S.Ct. 1031, 28 L.Ed.2d 306 (1971). And where the defendant has raised no question concerning the propriety of the amendment, he waives his right to attack it. Whiteley, supra, 418 P.2d at 166. Appellant was given notice of the charges against him, raised no objection to the peculiar procedure and, in fact, moved the court to consolidate the two informations for trial. It is customary that an amended information be styled as such and that the same criminal action number be retained. Here the second information was not designated as an amendment and a second criminal action number was assigned. To proceed in this manner is misleading and confusing, but does not, however, constitute reversible error. It is well established that (formal defects in the pleadings not prejudicial to the defendant will be disregarded.)    [A]ny    defect or imperfection which does not tend to prejudice any substantial right of the defendant upon the merits or to mislead the defendant to his prejudice shall not be grounds for dismissal of the indictment or information or for reversal of a conviction.   Rule 9(a), W.R.Cr.P. Even before this rule was adopted, this court had held that the amendment of an information was procedural and not jurisdictional. McGinnis v. State, 17 Wyo. 106, 96 P. 525 (1908); State v. Kusel, 29 Wyo. 287, 213 P. 367 (1923). More recent cases carry forth this rationale under the rules. Fuller v. State, Wyo., 568 P.2d 900 (1977); Sanville v. State, Wyo., 553 P.2d 1386 (1976). The amendment of an information is one of form and not of substance. Valerio v. State, Wyo., 445 P.2d 752, 753 (1968). Rule 9(c) allows amendment of an information only if no additional or different offense is charged. The amendment  the second information  does not charge appellant with an additional or different offense, because habitual criminality is not a crime, but serves only to enhance the punishment for the underlying felony. Neither does the amendment prejudice substantial rights of the defendant. Rule 9(a), supra, provides that when the substantive rights of the defendant on the merits are protected, minor defects in the formal proceedings will be ignored. The safeguards in habitual-criminal cases are set forth in § 6-1-111(b). See n. 3, supra. Here, appellant was tried first on the burglary count. All reference to the prior convictions were excluded from the first stage by grant of defendant's motion. Only after appellant had been convicted of burglary was the jury informed of the habitual-criminal charges, and that trial was held the following morning. Thus, the proceedings followed in this case conform to what they would have been had one information (either an original or a properly denoted amended information) charged the defendant with both burglary and being an habitual criminal. Because the protections were the same and adequate, it is difficult to see how the result would have been different. No substantial right of the defendant was placed in jeopardy. In fact, appellant does not urge that the two informations served to prejudice his defense. Thus, the defects in the amended information are not grounds for reversal.