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The change involves the expansion of the right to seek amendments. 277, § 35A, but a significant modification of the statute has been effected. The substance of this subdivision was taken from G.L. This subdivision for the most part restates prior Massachusetts practice. More recently, that Court has said, "he grand jury's sources of information are widely drawn, and the validity of an indictment is not affected by the character of the evidence considered." United States v. The jurors may act on tips, rumors, evidence offered by the prosecutor, or their own personal knowledge. 1 (1973), in which it stated that:Ī grand jury has broad investigative powers to determine whether a crime has been committed and who has committed it. The Court affirmed and expanded upon this holding in United States v. The Fifth Amendment requires nothing more." Id.
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is enough to call for a trial of the charge on the merits. 359 (1956), disposed of constitutional arguments against the practice, holding "n indictment returned by a legally constituted and unbiased grand jury. The United States Supreme Court, in Costello v. 518 (1975), reaffirmed the long-recognized rule in the Commonwealth that evidence which is not legally competent at trial is sufficient upon which to base an indictment, and that an indictment which is in fact based exclusively upon hearsay will not be invalidated at trial for that reason. This subdivision of the rule refers to hearsay and other types of evidence which may be inadmissible at trial, but may properly be considered by a grand jury. The subdivision is grounded in the desire to avoid removing an officer from his regular work shift to execute the mere formality of personally signing the complaint. Rule 4(b) authorizes the signing of the complaint by persons other than the arresting officer in order to avoid requiring the officer's presence at any time prior to the probable cause hearing or trial. District Court Standards of Judicial Practice, THE COMPLAINT PROCEDURE, standard 3:23, commentary at 41-42 (1975). The practice in many courts where a single officer presents applications for issuance of process for offenses of which he has no first-hand knowledge is not only appropriate, but a sound administrative procedure. A complainant may properly present statements of which he has no first-hand knowledge. (9 Gray) 113 (1857), there is no requirement that the statements offered in support of the issuance of process be based on personal knowledge or observation.
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276, § 22 provides that a complainant is to be examined "on oath" and that the complaint is to be "subscribed by the complainant." While this requirement has been strictly construed, Commonwealth v. See Rule13(b)) must describe the offense charged "'fully, plainly, substantially and formally,' with as much certainty as the known circumstances of the case. To survive a motion to dismiss, an indictment (together with a bill of particulars, if any. 277, § 79 contain sufficient descriptions of the crimes listed therein. An indictment or complaint must, however, set forth all the elements of the crime charged and if a statute does not contain all those elements, an indictment or complaint drawn in terms of that statute is insufficient. "The words used in a statute to define a crime, or other words conveying the same meaning, may be used." G.L. The statement of the charges can be in the form of a description of the criminal act or in the form of a legal term descriptive of the act. 9(a)(2), (b)), a single caption is sufficient. Although the indictment or complaint may contain more than one count (see Mass.R.Crim.P. A caption is required for indictments and complaints by G.L. Rule 4(a) is a restatement of Massachusetts statutory law.
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