(a) Use of Indictment, Information, or Complaint. All proceedings in which the crime charged is murder shall be prosecuted by indictment. All proceedings in which the crime charged is a Class A, Class B, or Class C crime shall be prosecuted by indictment, unless indictment is waived, in which case prosecution may be by information or complaint in accordance with this Rule.
In the event that a Class D or Class E charge may be joined with a related charge of murder or a related charge involving at least one Class A, Class B, or Class C crime under Rule 8(a), that Class D or Class E charge should be prosecuted in the same indictment charging murder or the same indictment, information, or complaint charging the Class A, Class B, or Class C crime.
Any indictment, information, or complaint so filed, if the indictment, information, or complaint supplements or replaces another charging instrument, must indicate the docket number previously assigned to the earlier charging instrument.
(b) Waiver of Indictment. Any crime except murder may be prosecuted by information or complaint upon request of the defendant if prosecution by indictment is waived by the defendant in open court. The waiver shall be in writing and signed in open court by the defendant, but the absence of a writing in such a case shall not be conclusive evidence of an invalid waiver.
(c) Nature and Contents. An indictment shall be signed by the foreperson of the grand jury, and an information shall be signed by the attorney for the State and certified on information and belief. The indictment or the information shall be a plain, concise, and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the crime charged. The indictment or information is not required to negate any facts designed a “defense” or any exception, exclusion, or authorization set forth in the statute defining the crime. It need not contain a formal commencement, a formal conclusion, or any other matter not necessary to such statement. Allegations made in one count may be incorporated by reference in another count. It may be alleged in a single count that the means by which the defendant committed the crime are unknown or that the defendant committed it by one or more specified means. The indictment or information shall state for each count the official or customary citation of the statute, rule, regulation, or other provision of law, and the class of crime that the defendant is alleged therein to have violated. Error in the citation of a statute or its omission shall not be grounds for the dismissal of the indictment or information or for reversal of a conviction if the error or omission did not mislead the defendant to the defendant’s prejudice.
All charges against a defendant arising from the same incident or course of conduct should be alleged in one indictment or information. An indictment or information may include multiple counts charged against a defendant when authorized pursuant to Rule 8(a). Nothing in this Rule shall prohibit the later commencement of additional charges arising from the original incident or course of conduct. The court may administratively consolidate such subsequent charges with the original indictment or information into a single case docket. Two or more defendants may not be charged in the same indictment or information.
If a prior conviction must be specially alleged pursuant to 17-A M.R.S. §9-A(1) it may not be alleged in an ancillary indictment, information or separate count thereof but instead must be part of the allegations constituting the principal crime. A prior conviction allegation made in one count may be incorporated by reference in another count.
(d) Surplusage. The court on motion of the defendant may strike surplusage from the indictment or information.
(e) Amendment of Indictment or Information. The court may permit the amendment of an indictment charging a crime other than a Class D or Class E crime at any time before verdict or finding if the amendment does not change the substance of the crime.
The court may permit the amendment of an indictment charging a Class D or Class E crime, or an information at any time before verdict or finding if no additional or different crime is charged and if no substantial right of the defendant is prejudiced.
Unless the statutory class for the principal crime would be elevated thereby, amendment of an indictment or information for purposes of 17-A M.R.S. §9-A(1) may be made as of right by the attorney for the State at any time before the imposition of sentence on the principal crime, and sentencing shall be continued until the attorney for the State has been afforded the opportunity to obtain an amended indictment if the allegation must be made by the grand jury.
With respect to joint recommendations for disposition involving an amendment to the indictment or information, the motion to amend the indictment or information must be in writing, must be accompanied by the proposed amended indictment or information, and must be filed with the clerk for docketing before it is presented to a justice or judge for disposition.
(f) Arrest Tracking Number (ATN) and Charge Tracking Number (CTN). Unless the crime charged is an excepted crime under Rule 57, each count of the indictment or information should include the assigned Arrest Tracking Number and Charge Tracking Number.
(g) State Identification Number. If a State Identification Number has been assigned to a defendant by the State Bureau of Identification, and if that State Identification Number is known to the attorney for the State, the indictment or information shall contain the State Identification Number.
(h) Statute Sequence Number. Each count of the indictment or information shall set forth the Statute Sequence Number for the crime or crime variant charged.
Last amended effective November 2, 2016.
