New Mexico v. Bent
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By the time Defendant Wayne Bent was indicted, the grand jury allegedly had exceeded its statutory term of service. Having been convicted subsequently of most of the charges in the indictment, Defendant appealed on the basis of that untimely indictment. He claimed that the untimely indictment deprived the grand jury of jurisdiction and that the Supreme Court should overturn the subsequent jury verdict against him. Persuaded by this argument, the Court of Appeals reversed Defendant's convictions. Upon review, the Supreme Court held that statutory challenges to the indictment like those presented by this case must be adjudicated before trial and before a verdict issues on those same charges. Accordingly, the Court reversed the Court of Appeals and remanded the case to that court for consideration of all other issues raised but not yet decided in Defendant's appeal.
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