United States v. Miller (1984)
- Docket
- 83-1750
- Decided
- 1984-01-01
Summary
Question: Does the Fifth Amendment right to be tried on a grand jury indictment provide that the jury can only convict the accused if the prosecution addresses every allegation included in the indictment? Conclusion: No. Justice Thurgood Marshall delivered the decision for an 8-0 court. The Court maintained that an indictment is valid so long as it "clearly set[s] out the offense for which [the accused] was ultimately convicted." In this case, the defense clearly understood that Miller could be convicted for fraud solely because he overstated the value of the stolen items. Failing to convict him on other grounds did not annul his proven criminal conduct. The allegation of conspiring with a burglar constituted another "means of committing the same crime" and could be "treated as a useless averment that may be ignored" once the prosecution dropped it.