N.D.R.Crim.P.
RULE 20. TRANSFER FROM THE COUNTY FOR PLEA AND SENTENCE
(a) Indictment, Information, or Complaint pending Consent to
Transfer. A defendant
arrested, held, or present in any prosecution may be transferred from the
county other than
that in which where the indictment, information, or complaint is pending
against to the
county where the defendant is arrested, held or present if:
(1) may state the defendant states in writing
the an intention to plead guilty, and to waive
trial in the county in which where the indictment, information, or
complaint is pending, and
to consent to disposition consents in writing to the court's disposing of the case
in the
transferee county in which the defendant was arrested, held, or
present, and files the
statement in the transferee county; and
(2) subject to the approval of the prosecuting
attorney attorneys for each county approve
the transfer in writing.
(b) Clerk's Duties. Upon receipt of After receiving the
defendant's statement and of the
written approval of the prosecuting attorney the required approvals, the clerk
of the court or
the court in which where the indictment, information, or complaint is pending
shall transmit
the papers in the proceeding or certified copies thereof send the file, or a certified
copy, to
the clerk of the court or court for the county in which the defendant is
held or present and
the prosecution continues in that county in the transferee county.
(b c ) Effect of Not Guilty Plea. If, the
defendant pleads not guilty after the proceeding case
has been transferred pursuant to subdivision under Rule 20(a),
the defendant pleads not
guilty, the clerk of court or the court shall return the
papers documents to the court in which
where the prosecution was commenced began, and the
court must restore the proceeding
must be restored to the its docket of that
court. The defendant's statement of intention to
plead guilty may not be used against that defendant without that defendant's
consent is not,
in any civil or criminal proceeding, admissible against the defendant.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Rule 20 was amended, effective March 1, 1990; ________________;
Rule 20 is an adaptation of Fed.R.Crim.P. 20. It permits a defendant, arrested,
held, or
present in a county other than that in which the indictment, information, or complaint is
pending against the defendant, to state in writing that the defendant wishes to plead guilty,
to waive trial in the county in which charges against the defendant are pending and to
consent to disposition of the case in the county in which the defendant was arrested, is held,
or is present, subject to the approval of the prosecuting attorney for each county. The
Rule
differs from existing practice in that it permits a defendant, charged in one county and held
or present in another, to plead guilty in the county in which the defendant was found.
This
procedure may be used between counties in the state, and is not limited to those
counties in
the same judicial district. The Rule rule benefits the defendant in that
it permits a speedy
disposition of the defendant's case, if the defendant desires to plead guilty, without the
hardship which may be involved in transferring the defendant back to the county in which
the defendant was charged. This may be desirable for a defendant who is arrested or
turns
one's self in surrenders at or near the defendant's residence for a crime
committed elsewhere
in the State state. The benefit to the State
state is the savings in transportation expenses. The
requirement that the prosecuting attorneys of both counties must consent to this action by
the defendant provides the necessary safeguards for the State state.
Rule 20 was amended, effective March 1, 1990. The amendments are technical in nature and no substantive change is intended.
Rule 20 was amended, effective ______________, in response to the December 1, 2002, revision of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
Subdivision (a) differs from its Federal counterpart in that it includes the complaint
as a
charging document, thus eliminating the need for a subdivision similar to (b) of the Federal
Rule.
Subdivision (b c) provides that a defendant is not obligated by
the defendant's a request for
a transfer under Subdivision Rule 20(a). If the defendant decides not
to plead guilty, the
defendant shall be tried thereafter in the county in which
where the information was
originally filed, on such information or on another information filed in term time, as the
State's attorney may so elect. However, the written statement may not be used against
the
defendant without the defendant's prior consent.
The Advisory Committee's Notes to the original Federal Rule (18 USCA,
Fed.R.Crim.P.
20 at page 127) say in part:
"This rule introduces a new procedure in the interest of defendants who intend to
plead
guilty and are arrested in a district other than that in which the prosecution has been
instituted. This rule would accord to a defendant in such a situation an opportunity to secure
a disposition of the case in the district where the arrest takes place, thereby relieving him of
whatever hardship may be involved in a removal to the place where the prosecution is
pending. In order to prevent the possible interference with the administration of justice,
however, the consent of the United States attorneys involved is required."
SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of January 27-28, 2005, pages 16-17;
April 20, 1989, page 4; December 3, 1987, page 15; December 7-8, 1978, pages 14-15;
October 12-13, 1978, pages 8-9; October 17-20, 1972, pages 4-5; September 26-27, 1968,
pages 8-9; 8 F.R.D. 338, 340-341;Fed.R.Crim.P. 20; Wright, Federal
Practice and Procedure:
Criminal, § 321-323 (1969); 8 Moore's Federal Practice, Chapter 20 (Cipes, 2d Ed.
1972); Barron, Federal Practice and Procedure: Criminal, § 2081 (1951); Goodman,
Revolutionary Procedures in Criminal Actions, 1948.
STATUTES AFFECTED:
CONSIDERED: N.D.C.C. §§ 33-12-12, 33-12-13.
CROSS REFERENCES: N.D.R.Crim.P. 32 (Sentencing and Judgment).