VIII. Bill of Particulars

• Library: The Rights of the Accused under the Sixth Amendment (ABA) (2016 Ed.)

VIII. Bill of Particulars

A bill of particulars is a document used to specify the nature and character of the charges against a defendant.¹⁰⁹ It does not function as an indictment, nor can it save a faulty indictment.¹¹⁰ The bill serves several purposes, such as helping a defendant better prepare for trial, making certain a defendant is not surprised at trial as to charges, and preventing a defendant from being tried twice for the same offense due to a vague or indefinite indictment.¹¹¹

There is no right to a bill of particulars.¹¹² The decision to grant or deny a defendant's motion for a bill of particulars is within the discretion of the trial court,¹¹³ and the court's decision to deny the request will be affirmed unless the defendant demonstrates that actual surprise or prejudice resulted from the denial and thus the court's action was an abuse of discretion.¹¹⁴ However, if an indictment sufficiently details the charges against a defendant or the government agrees to provide full discovery to the defense, there is no need for a bill of particulars to be issued and the request will be routinely denied.¹¹⁵ A court will deny a motion for a bill of particulars where the facts sought by a defendant are either already known, or the means of ascertaining those facts are otherwise available to the defense.¹¹⁶

Under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, a motion for a bill of particulars must be made before or within fourteen days after arraignment.¹¹⁷ The motion must also specify which portion of the indictment needs better explanation; the request cannot simply allege that the entire indictment is insufficient.¹¹⁸

When deciding whether to issue an order requiring a bill of particulars, the court must strike a balance between use of the government's available evidence and the defendant's protection against surprise at trial.¹¹⁹ Fear that a defendant will attempt to use a bill of particulars as a way to create broad discovery or "freeze" the government's evidence in advance of trial is often stated as a reason for the hesitancy to grant motions for bill of particulars.¹²⁰

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Notes:

^[109] . Dzikowski v. State 82 A.3d 851, 857 (Md. 2013); United States v. Brown, 2014 WL 3909116 (W.D. La. Aug. 11, 2014) ("The purpose of a bill of particulars 'is to apprise a defendant of the charges against him with enough detail to allow him to prepare his defense.'"); United States v. Page, 575 Fed. App'x 641, 643 (6th Cir. 2014) ("The purpose of a bill of particulars is to...