Alaska

Criminal Procedure

Criminal Procedure

Rule 34 – Arrest of Judgment

(a)Grounds. A motion in arrest of judgment following a plea or verdict of guilty may be founded on one or more of the following grounds, and not otherwise:

(1) That the grand jury by which the indictment was found had no legal authority to inquire into the crime charged, or that the court was without jurisdiction of the offense charged.
(2) That the facts stated in the indictment or information do not constitute a crime.
(b)Time for Making Motion. The motion shall be made within 5 days after verdict or finding of guilt, or within such further time as the court may fix during the 5-day period.
(c)Effect of Order Arresting Judgment. The effect of allowing a motion in arrest of judgment is to place the defendant in the same situation the defendant was in before the indictment was found.
(d)Recommitting Defendant or Admission to Bail. If from the evidence given on the trial, there is reasonable ground to believe the defendant guilty, and a new indictment or information can be framed upon which the defendant may be convicted, the court shall order the defendant to be recommitted to custody or admitted to bail, to answer the new indictment or information, if one be found or filed. If the evidence shows the defendant to be guilty of another crime than that charged in the indictment or information, the defendant must in like manner be committed or held thereon, and in neither case is the verdict a bar to another action for the same crime.
(e)Discharge of Defendant. If no evidence appears sufficient to charge the defendant with any crime, the defendant must, if in custody, be discharged, or, if the defendant has given bail or deposited money in lieu thereof, the bail is exonerated or the money must be refunded to the defendant, and in such case the arrest of judgment operates as an acquittal of the charge upon which the indictment or information was founded.

Alaska R. Crim. P. 34

Adopted by SCO 4 October 4, 1959; amended by SCO 49 effective January 1, 1963; and by SCO 1153 effective July 15, 1994