§ 16-85-405 - Sufficiency and errors. - Arkansas Statutes

16-85-405. Sufficiency and errors.

(a) (1) The indictment is sufficient if it can be understood from the indictment:

(A) That it was found by a grand jury of a county, impaneled in a court having authority to receive the indictment;

(B) That the offense was committed within the jurisdiction of the court and at some time prior to the time of finding the indictment; and

(C) That the act or omission charged as the offense is stated with such a degree of certainty so as to satisfy due process of law.

(2) No indictment is insufficient, nor can the trial, judgment, or other proceeding thereon be affected, by reason of any defect which does not prejudice the substantial rights of the defendant.

(b) An error as to the name of the defendant shall not vitiate the indictment or proceedings on the indictment, and if the defendant's true name is discovered at any time before execution of the indictment, an entry shall be made on the docket of the court of the defendant's true name, referring to the fact of the defendant's being indicted by the name mentioned in the indictment, and the subsequent proceedings shall be in the defendant's true name.

(c) The statement in the indictment as to the time at which the offense was committed is not material except as a statement that it was committed before the time of finding the indictment, except where the time is a material ingredient in the offense.

(d) The words used in a statute to define an offense need not be strictly pursued in an indictment, but other words conveying the same meaning may be used.