More Categories

Rule 2.6 – Multiple offenses or defendants; pleading special matters

May 13, 2021 | Criminal Procedure, Iowa

2. 6(1)Multiple offenses. Two or more indictable public offenses which arise from the same transaction or occurrence or from two or more transactions or occurrences constituting parts of a common scheme or plan, when alleged and prosecuted contemporaneously, shall be alleged and prosecuted as separate counts in a single complaint, information or indictment, unless, for good cause shown, the trial court in its discretion determines otherwise. Where a public offense carries with it certain lesser included offenses, the latter should not be charged, and it is sufficient to charge that the accused committed the major offense.
2. 6(2)Prosecution and judgment. Upon prosecution for a public offense, the defendant may be convicted of either the public offense charged or an included offense, but not both.
2. 6(3)Duty of court to instruct. In cases where the public offense charged may include some lesser offense it is the duty of the trial court to instruct the jury, not only as to the public offense charged but as to all lesser offenses of which the accused might be found guilty under the indictment and upon the evidence adduced, even though such instructions have not been requested.
2. 6(4)Charging multiple defendants.

a. Multiple defendants. Two or more defendants may be charged in the same indictment, information, or complaint if they are alleged to have participated in the same act or the same transaction or occurrence out of which the offense or offenses arose. Such defendants may be charged in one or more counts together or separately, and all the defendants need not be charged in each count.
b. Prosecution and judgment. When an indictment or information jointly charges two or more defendants, those defendants may be tried jointly if in the discretion of the court a joint trial will not result in prejudice to one of the parties. Otherwise, defendants shall be tried separately. When jointly tried, defendants shall be adjudged separately on each count.
c. When charged or appearing jointly, those defendants may share an interpreter if in the discretion of the court a shared interpreter will not result in prejudice to one of the parties. Otherwise, defendants shall have separate interpreters.
2. 6(5)Allegations of prior convictions. If the offense charged is one for which the defendant, if convicted, will be subject by reason of the Code to an increased penalty because of prior convictions, the allegation of such convictions, if any, shall be contained in the indictment. A supplemental indictment shall be prepared for the purpose of trial of the facts of the current offense only, and shall satisfy all pertinent requirements of the Code, except that it shall make no mention, directly or indirectly, of the allegation of the prior convictions, and shall be the only indictment read or otherwise presented to the jury prior to conviction of the current offense. The effect of this subrule shall be to alter the procedure for trying, in one criminal proceeding, the offenses appropriate to its provisions, and not to alter in any manner the basic elements of an offense as provided by law.
2. 6(6)Allegations of use of a dangerous weapon. If the offense charged is one for which the defendant, if convicted, will be subject by reason of the Codefn-FR-2-2.6-1 to a minimum sentence because of use of a dangerous weapon, the allegation of such use, if any, shall be contained in the indictment. If use of a dangerous weapon is alleged as provided by this rule, and if the allegation is supported by the evidence, the court shall submit to the jury a special interrogatory concerning this matter, as provided in rule 2.22(2).
2. 6(7)Pleading statutes. A pleading asserting any statute of another state, territory or jurisdiction of the United States, or a right derived therefrom, shall refer to such statute by plain designation and if such reference is made, the court shall judicially notice such statute.

Note:COMMENT:

Note: This rule is not intended to eliminate a prosecutor’s discretion not to charge certain offenses at the time other offenses growing out of the same transaction or that are part of a common scheme are being charged. Nor is it intended to prevent a later charge from being filed with respect to an offense that has not initially been included. The rule is only intended to require that all contemporaneous criminal filings in which the crimes charged grow out of the same transaction or are part of a common scheme be combined in a single indictment or information. The rule will facilitate uniformity in charging practices to assure the comparability of statistical data derived from case filings and will eliminate unnecessary multiple filings which place an unnecessary administrative burden on the court system.

size=”-2″[1] 1. See § 902.7

Iowa. R. Crim. P. 2.6

66GA, ch 1245(2), § 1301; 67GA, ch 153, § 16; amendment 1980; amendment 1982; amendment 1983; Report 1980; amendment 1999; Report January 24, 2000, effective March 1, 2000; November 9, 2001, effective February 15, 2002; December 22, 2003, effective November 1, 2004.