Opinion ID: 1940840
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Denial of Bill of Particulars.

Text: The trial information was filed July 19, 1985. Defendant's motion for bill of particulars, filed on August 1, 1985, was denied by the district court. Defendant urges on appeal that the motion should have been granted so as to require the State to specify the forcible felony on which it was relying to sustain its alternative theory of first-degree murder. Although we agree that defendant was entitled to know the forcible felony relied on by the State, we find no fault in the district court's ruling on defendant's motion for bill of particulars. The motion contains no request that defendant be apprised of the particular forcible felony upon which the State's felony murder charge was based. As a result, that claim was not adequately called to the trial court's attention. Ordinarily, trial courts have a great deal of discretion in ruling on requests for a bill of particulars. State v. Doss, 355 N.W.2d 874, 880 (Iowa 1984). The test is whether defendant is sufficiently apprised of the charge against him. Id. at 881. In the present case, defendant filed a motion three weeks prior to commencement of the trial, seeking permission to explore the victim's sexual history. Statements contained in the motion reflect his knowledge of the State's theory concerning the forcible felony alternative for proving first-degree murder. We find no error in the denial of the bill of particulars.