Page:1939 North Dakota Session Laws.pdf/214

CRIME (d) The term "act" includes omission to act.

(e) The word "property” included any matter or thing other than a person, upon or in respect to which any offense may be committed.

(f) The words "indictment" and "information,” unless a contrary intention appears, include any count thereof.

(g) The terms "writing" and "written" include words printed, painted, typed, engraved, lithographed, photographed, or otherwise copied, traced or made visible to the eye.

(h) The term "the court," unless a contrary intention appears, means the court before which the trial is had.

§ 2. .] (1) Whenever an objection is made that an indictment or information does not contain a caption or commencement, a caption may be prefixed to, and a commencement may be inserted in, the indictment or information; and any defect, error or omission in a caption or commencement may be amended as of course, at any stage of the proceedings, and shall be in any event cured by a verdict.

(2) It is unnecessary to allege that the grand jurors were impanelled, sworn or charged, or that they present the indictment upon their oaths or affirmations.

§ 3. CONCLUSION.] The indictment or information need contain no formal conclusion.

§ 4. .] (1) All informations shall be subscribed by the prosecuting attorney. Except in cases where the defendant has been held to answer in a preliminary examination, the information shall be verified by the oath of the prosecuting attorney or that of the complainant or of some other person. When the information is verified by the prosecuting attorney, it shall be sufficient if the verification is upon information and belief.

(2) No objection to an information on the ground that it was not subscribed or verified, as above provided, shall be made after moving to quash or pleading to the merits.

§ 5. .] The indictment may be in substantially the following form:

In the (here state the name of the court) the [blank] day of [blank], 19[blank]. The State (Commonwealth, People) of [blank] vs. A. B.

The grand jurors of the county of [blank] accuse A. B. of (here charge the offense in one of the ways mentioned in Section 7-e.g., murder; assault with intent to kill, poisoning an animal contrary to Section 31 of the Penal Code) and charge that (here the particulars of the offense may be added with a view to avoiding the necessity for a bill of particulars).