Opinion ID: 2071374
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of charging affidavit

Text: Upon this issue, the majority, by adoption of the Court of Appeal's opinion affirmed the trial court's denial of the defendant's motion to quash the charging affidavit. The opinion quoted from Blackburn v. State, (1973) 260 Ind. 5, 11, 291 N.E.2d 686, 690, which is a correct statement of the standards of specificity for indictments and charging affidavits. In the posture in which this case was argued upon the motion, tried and affirmed, however, those standards were not met. The majority opinion upon the motion to quash issue and the majority opinion upon the sufficiency of the evidence issue are inapposite. Had the case been a traditional aggravated assault case, I would agree that the affidavit was sufficient. In the context of this case, however, it was insufficient. Accepting, for purposes of argument, that the offense of aggravated assault can be committed by the mere commission of an unlawful act and resultant serious injury, i.e. the specific intent to injure is not a requisite, then the offense is essentially the same as involuntary manslaughter (an unlawful act resulting in an accidental death) and reckless homicide (reckless disregard resulting in death) and must be subjected to the same rules of pleading with regard to certainty. Some crimes may be charged in the language of the statute, others may not. Ordinarily the description of an offense in the language of the statute is sufficient, and if the statute defines an offense and states specifically what acts constitute it an indictment or affidavit in the language of the statute may show that the statute has been violated.    But where the statute uses general terms and does not specify what acts shall constitute the offense forbidden, it is not sufficient merely to use the language of the statute, but the pleader must state the particular facts in the case. Ewbanks Ind. Crim. Law (Symmes Ed.) § 171 and cases there cited. Involuntary manslaughter does not belong to that class of crimes that may be charged in the language of the statute. When the affidavit or indictment is based upon the commission of an act which is unlawful because it is negligent, the allegations must allege facts by which it is made to appear that the act was done wantonly or with reckless disregard for the safety of others, and it must further appear that such act was the proximate cause of the death. State v. Beckman, (1941) 219 Ind. 176 at p. 185, 37 N.E.2d 531 at p. 534. Reckless homicide, under the statute referred to above, is a form of involuntary manslaughter and doesn't belong to the class of crimes which may be charged in the language of the statute. Facts must be alleged which make it appear that the death was due to reckless disregard of the safety of others. Rogers v. State, (1949) 227 Ind. 709 at p. 715, 88 N.E.2d 755 at p. 758. Assault and assault and battery were crimes at common law and were adopted by statute. There was no common law crime of aggravated assault. Having an established meaning at common law, therefore, the crimes of assault and assault and battery could be charged in the language of the statute without elaboration. Further, if we regard the statutory crime of aggravated assault as but a traditional assault and battery with the additional element of a resultant great bodily harm, it appears that it could also be charged in the language of the statute, without more. But, if the statute is to encompass great bodily harm resulting not from specific intent but from conduct that is unlawful because it is negligent or wilful and wanton, it follows that such conduct would have to be alleged with the same particularity required in charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide. At oral arguments, this point was raised and disposed of by a brief comment to the effect that the defendant could have filed a motion to make more specific if he felt himself in need of the particulars. The law is very clear that there is no such thing as a motion to make more specific in criminal law pleading and that uncertainty and indefiniteness may be reached only by a motion to quash. The fourth statutory ground for a motion to quash is that the indictment or affidavit does not state the offense with sufficient certainty. Burns § 9-1129. [1] A motion to make more specific does not raise any question under our criminal practice. Hinshaw v. State, (1919) 188 Ind. 447, 455, 124 N.E. 458; Sunderman v. State, (1925) 197 Ind. 705, 706, 151 N.E. 829. See also Watt v. State, (1968) 249 Ind. 674, 234 N.E.2d 471. It has also been decided that a motion for a bill of particulars is inappropriate under such circumstances in that the necessity for such a bill is ample reason to quash the charge for uncertainty. Sherrick v. State, (1906) 167 Ind. 345, 350, 79 N.E. 193. The majority opinion misses this point completely. It acknowledges that the unlawful act or acts which proximately caused a death must be alleged with reference to involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide but fails to recognize the similarity of those crimes to the crime of aggravated assault when permitted to encompass reckless injury. In distinguishing the cases, the majority holds, In contrast, the gist of the offense of aggravated assault and battery    is the wilful, unlawful infliction of great bodily harm   . The affidavit here at issue stated these elements of the offense plainly and with certainty. The certainty required is not simply that the defendant be made aware of the crime with which he is charged. Rather, it requires that he be advised as to why he is so charged. The last quoted statement of the majority opinion could be applied with equal logic to the offenses of involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide, but from the foregoing it is clear that an indictment alleging that the defendant involuntarily killed a named person in the commission of some unlawful act would not be a sufficient charge of manslaughter, and an affidavit alleging that the defendant drove a vehicle with reckless disregard for the safety of others and thereby caused the death of a named person would not be sufficient as a charge of reckless homicide notwithstanding that such allegations plainly state the elements of the offenses. The judgment of the trial court should be reversed. DeBRULER, J., concurs.