Opinion ID: 3009673
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was the district court required to dismiss the

Text: entire indictment or any part of the indictment for lack of the specificity allegedly required by the Speech or Debate Clause? We do not believe that the Speech or Debate Clause required dismissal of all or any part of the indictment for vagueness. The defendant cites no authority for the proposition that the Clause imposes pleading requirements, and we do not think that the Clause imposes such requirements per se. We agree 33 that the prosecution, in a case with potential Speech or Debate Clause issues, must provide sufficient notice of the nature of the charges so that a motion for dismissal on Speech or Debate Clause grounds can be adequately litigated and decided. However, we see no basis for concluding that the Speech or Debate Clause requires that this notice be furnished in the indictment itself. Furthermore, the indictment in this case is replete with factual details, and as noted below,0 the defendant has specifically cited only a few allegations that he claims are impermissibly vague. Thus, we reject the defendant's argument that the indictment in this case is too vague to satisfy the Speech or Debate Clause.0