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Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 34

RULE 34. ARREST OF JUDGMENT

The court on motion of a defendant shall arrest judgment if the indictment, presentment or information does not charge an offense or if the court was without jurisdiction of the offense charged. The motion in arrest of judgment may be made orally in open court, but it must be reduced to writing and filed within thirty days of the date the order of sentence is entered. A motion in arrest of judgment is not a waiver of the right to make a motion for a new trial.

[Amended effective October 1, 1985.]

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Committee Comment

There is no requirement as to the order in which motions for judgment of acquittal after a verdict of guilty, motions for a new trial, and motions in arrest of judgment are made. Each must be made within thirty days after verdict, and an appeal must be prayed and granted before the court's judgment becomes final after the last ruling upon a timely filing that had the effect of tolling the finality of the judgment appealed from. A petition for a suspended sentence does not have the effect of tolling the finality of the conviction judgment.

Comment to 1985 Amendment

The amendment to the rule changes the time within which a motion for arrest of judgment must be filed. Under the former rule the motion had to be filed within thirty days of the verdict. The new rule provides that the thirty day period begins to run from the date the sentence is imposed and is in harmony with the similar alteration of the time required to file a motion for a new trial under Rule 33(b).

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