Virginia Code 19.2-226: What defects in indictments not to vitiate them
No indictment or other accusation shall be quashed or deemed invalid:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 19.2-226
- Court: means any court vested with appropriate jurisdiction under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 19.2-5
- Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(1) For omitting to set forth that it is upon the oaths of the jurors or upon their oaths and affirmations;
(2) For the insertion of the words “upon their oath,” instead of “upon their oaths”;
(3) For not in terms alleging that the offense was committed “within the jurisdiction of the court” when the averments show that the case is one of which the court has jurisdiction;
(4) For the omission or misstatement of the title, occupation, estate, or degree of the accused or of the name or place of his residence;
(5) For omitting the words “with force and arms” or the statement of any particular kind of force and arms;
(6) For omitting to state, or stating imperfectly, the time at which the offense was committed when time is not the essence of the offense;
(7) For failing to allege the kind or value of an instrument which caused death or to allege that it was of no value;
(8) For omitting to charge the offense to be “against the form of the statute or statutes”;
(9) For the omission or insertion of any other words of mere form or surplusage; or
(10) For omitting or stating incorrectly the Virginia crime code references for the particular offense or offenses covered.
Nor shall it be abated for any misnomer of the accused; but the court may, in case of a misnomer appearing before or in the course of a trial, forthwith cause the indictment or accusation to be amended according to the fact.
Code 1950, § 19.1-172; 1960, c. 366; 1975, c. 495; 2003, c. 148.