New Hampshire Revised Statutes
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 601:8 (2026)
Formal Errors, etc
✓ current as of May 2026
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601:8 Formal Errors, etc. –
No indictment, complaint, return, process, judgment or other proceeding in any criminal case in the courts or course of justice shall be abated, quashed or reversed for any error or mistake where the person or case may be rightly understood by the court, nor through any defect or want of form or addition, and courts and justices may, on motion, order amendments in any such case.
Source. 1863, 2724:1. GS 242:13. GL 260:13. PS 253:13. PL 367:12. RL 427:12.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 20
cases, 1958–2011 · leading case: State v. Spade, 385 A.2d 115 (N.H. 1978).
State v. Spade, 385 A.2d 115 (N.H. 1978). “RSA 601:8 provides: “No indictment . . . shall be abated, quashed or reversed for any error or mistake where the person or case may be rightly understood by the court, nor through any defect or want of form or addition; and courts and justices may, on motion, order amendments in…”
State v. Fennelly, 461 A.2d 1090 (N.H. 1983). “Our statute, RSA 601:8, providing for the amendment of indictments states that: "No indictment, complaint, return, process, judgment or other proceeding, in any criminal case in the courts or course of justice, shall be abated, quashed or reversed for *388 any error or mistake…”
State v. Quintero, 34 A.3d 612 (N.H. 2011). “425, 429 (1984), while amendments that involve merely the form of the indictment are freely allowed and may be made without the need to return to the grand jury, see RSA 601:8 (2001); State v. Spade, 118 N.H.”
State v. Oakes, 13 A.3d 293 (N.H. 2010). “485, 489 (2001); see RSA 601:8 (2001). Amendments in form are permissible because “they do not jeopardize the right to be tried only on charges that have been passed on by a grand jury.”
State v. Johnson, 547 A.2d 213 (N.H. 1988). “The State concedes that the indictment was constructively amended, but argues that it was amended in form and not in substance and that the amendment thus was permissible.”
State v. Bussiere, 392 A.2d 151 (N.H. 1978). “The second error Bussiere assigns concerning the accomplice-to-attempted-murder indictment is that it is “deficient and defective in that it suggests a murder was committed” when in fact the alleged victim survived. We agree that the indictment appears to suggest incorrectly…”
State v. Erickson, 533 A.2d 23 (N.H. 1987). “See RSA 601:8; State v. Spade, 118 N.H. 186, 189 , 385 A.”
State v. Elliott, 585 A.2d 304 (N.H. 1990). “A trial judge may, however, amend a grand jury’s indictment if the amendment is purely one of form, RSA 601:8, “for such amendments do not jeopardize the right to be tried only on charges that have been passed on by a grand jury.”
State v. Comley, 546 A.2d 1066 (N.H. 1988). “See RSA 601:8, Dist. & Mun. Ct. R. 2.1.B. This court has indicated that an amendment to a criminal complaint, even after trial has begun, does not prejudice a defendant’s rights if the defendant still has “a fair opportunity to prepare his defense and to meet the case against…”
State v. Pond, 567 A.2d 992 (N.H. 1989). “See RSA 601:8 (“[n]o indictment . . . shall be .”
State v. Settle, 570 A.2d 895 (N.H. 1990). “Prosecutors may seek to take some refuge in RSA 601:8, which provides that “[n]o indictment, complaint, return, process, judgment or other proceeding in any criminal case in the courts or course of justice shall be abated, quashed or reversed for any error or mistake where the…”
State v. Crockett, 358 A.2d 414 (N.H. 1976). “1975); RSA 601:8; Annot., 14 A.L.R.3d 1335 (1967)) or in granting its motion to reopen its case.”
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