The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Veltri, 139 F.3d 909 (9th Cir. 1998):
Whether an indictment is duplicitous is a question of law reviewed de novo. United States v. Martin, 4 F.3d 757, 759 (9th Cir.1993). "In reviewing an indictment for duplicity, our task is not to review the evidence presented at trial to determine whether it would support charging several crimes rather than one, but rather solely to assess whether the indictment itself can be read to charge only one violation in each count." Id. (citation omitted). The fact that the indictment charges a single conspiracy to commit more than one offense does not make it duplicitous. Id.
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.