Duplicitous
Duplicity is the error committed when the charge (known as a count) on an indictment describes more than one offence.
An indictment may contain more than one count, but each count must allege only one offence, so that the defendant (and the jury) can know precisely what offences he or she is accused of. If a count is poorly drafted so that it alleges two offences, it is said to be "duplicitous". A duplicitous count is defective and may be quashed by the judge, unless the judge permits the count to be amended so that it only alleges one offence, or is split into two counts. If a duplicitous count is not noticed until after the defendant has been convicted on it, the verdict may be void.
Duplicity is not to be mistaken with multiplicity, which is similar to duplicity in law. While duplicity refers to multiple offences under the same count, multiplicity regards multiple counts that reflect the same offence.
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- 2022-04-08T00:00:00.000000Z
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