State v. Capps
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The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals that vacated Defendants' convictions for certain charges, holding that when the prosecutor moved to amend the arrest warrant to correctly state the name of the property owner and did so by filing a statement of charges form after arraignment, the superior court properly considered and allowed the change.
At issue was whether the prosecutor lost the right to amend the criminal warrant in this case when the amendment was filed on a statement of charges form after Defendant's arraignment. The court of appeals held that because Defendant was tried under a statement of charges that was filed after arraignment and because the sufficiency of the original arrest warrant had not been contested, the statement of charges was untimely and the superior court had no jurisdiction to try the case under that charging document. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) regardless of the label, such a change is still an amendment and no statutory provision limits the filing of a statement of charges in this way; and (2) therefore, the trial court did not err in proceeding under the amended pleading.
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