#BILL OF PARTICULARS CRIMINAL TRIAL#

TimingĮach of the above motions, with the exception of the motion for a bill of particulars, the notice of an alibi defense and the motion in limine, must be filed within 40 days of either the scheduled date of the arraignment, or the filing of the written arraignment, whichever comes first. The motion is filed when grounds for the motion appear but must be filed 9 or more days before trial. Motion in LimineĪ motion in limine is filed in order to obtain a ruling on the admissibility of certain evidence prior to trial.

#BILL OF PARTICULARS CRIMINAL TRIAL#

While a person has an absolute right to a jury trial, there may be certain circumstances when it is in the Defendant’s best interest to waive the right to trial by jury and to try the case to a judge. Note that the venue will not necessarily change. The court will grant the motion when it is satisfied that prejudice exists on the part of the judge.

Just like the change of venue, situations can arise where it is inappropriate for a sitting judge to preside over a case. In that situation, a judge may grant a change of venue in order to avoid juror bias created by prior knowledge of the case. However, there are sometimes circumstances that require that a trial take place in another county, such as when there has been a lot of pretrial publicity. Change Of VenueĪ criminal charge is generally tried in the county in which the events occurred. In that case, each of the severed charges is tried at a separate trial. A motion to sever can also be used where the Defendant is charged with multiple crimes. If a judge grants the Defendant’s request for severance in that situation, then he or she will be tried separately from any codefendant. There are situations where the best course of action is to try each person separately. This means that they will have a joint trial, where they will all be tried at the same time. When there are multiple parties charged with the same crime, they can be charged as co-defendants. A successful motion to suppress will cause a judge to rule that any evidence gained in violation of the Defendant’s rights is inadmissible at trial. A motion to suppress may also challenge violations of the Fifth and Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution (and the corresponding sections of the Iowa Constitution and Code), as well as under certain statutory provisions. The violated rights are found under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as under Article 1, Section 8 of the Iowa Constitution. Generally, a motion to suppress challenges violations arising from an illegal search and seizure. Motion To SuppressĪ motion to suppress is filed with the court when the Defendant’s rights were violated during the police investigation. It is used for discovery purposes and is sometimes used in court. The testimony is recorded by a court-reporter. Notice of DepositionĪ deposition is the taking of sworn testimony by oral examination in an out-of-court setting. The Defense must make a request for discovery to view or obtain the evidence that the State intends to present at trial. Obtaining evidence from the opposing party is called the discovery process. The Defendant has a right to view the State’s evidence. The Defendant is required to notify the State of any evidence that he or she plans to present in order to establish a defense. However, no defense or objection can be raised on the ground that the indictment or information fails to show jurisdiction in the court or to raise any defenses or objections that can be raised another way, like through another pretrial motion. Certain defenses and objections can exist based on the indictment or the information and this motion is used to raise them. There are also rules and procedures that the State must follow when charging somebody by indictment or information.

Defenses And Objections Based On Defects In The Indictment Or Information This motion is filed when there was a problem with how the State handled instituting the prosecution. There are certain rules and procedure the State must follow when instituting prosecution. Objections Based On Defects In The Institution Of The Prosecution This must be filed within 10 days of the earlier of the date of the arraignment, or the date the written arraignment is filed, but the time period can be extended for good cause. A Motion for a Bill of Particulars is thus a request to the Court to require the State to supply more information about the charged crime. This motion is made when an indictment or information charges a Defendant with an offense, but does not specify the particulars of the charged offense to allow the Defendant to prepare an adequate defense. Information about these motions can be found in Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.11. These motions are all subject to certain timing constraints. There are certain motions that the Defense may file before trial.

Bill of particulars criminal