RULE 7. INDICTMENTS, PRESENTMENTS AND INFORMATIONS(a) General Provision. The definition, form, use, return, endorsements, content, and procedure relating to indictments, presentments and criminal informations shall be as provided by law.
(b) Amendments of Indictments, Presentments and Informations. An indictment, presentment or information may be amended in all cases with the consent of the defendant. If no additional or different offense is thereby charged and no substantial rights of the defendant are thereby prejudiced, the court may permit an amendment without the defendant's consent before jeopardy attaches.
(c) Bill of Particulars. Upon motion of the defendant the court may direct the filing of a bill of particulars so as to adequately identify the offense charged.
The criminal information has been used in state cases under the provisions of T.C.A. §§40-301 et seq., but because the Constitution of Tennessee, Art. 1, Sec. 14, provides that no person shall be put to answer any criminal charge but by presentment, indictment or impeachment, its use is limited to those cases in which there is an agreement by the defendant to be bound by its use.
Subsection (a) simply adopts the existing law, and leaves it subject to whatever changes and construction that may be made.
The first sentence of (b) deals with permissive amendments and follows existing statutory law per T.C.A. §40-1713, while the second sentence permits some amendments in the face of the defendant's objection, as originally proposed by the Law Revision Commission in s 40-1005 of its proposed code. The same constitutional provision set out at the beginning of this comment constitutes the basis for a caveat as to the extent to which non-consensual amendments may constitutionally be made without re-submitting the matter to the grand jury.
Subsection (c) provides for a bill of particulars where needed by the defendant in order that the defendant can know precisely what he or she is charged with. This provision is to be construed to serve that singular purpose, and is not meant to be used for purposes of broad discovery.