MEMO
TO: Joint Procedure Committee
FROM: Mike Hagburg
RE: Rule 35, N.D.R.Crim.P., Correction or Reduction of a Sentence
Attached are proposed amendments to Rule 35. The amendments are form and style amendments in the spirit of the December 2002 federal criminal rule amendments and are based in part on the amendments to Fed.R.Crim.P. 35.
Rule 35 is only somewhat similar to the federal rule. Therefore, most of the revisions to Rule 35 are based on the federal court rule drafting guidelines and the North Dakota legislative drafting guidelines rather than on the language of Fed.R.Crim.P. 35 itself.
One proposed addition to the rule, however, is taken directly from Fed.R.Crim.P. 35--paragraph (a)(2) on clear error. Aside from this addition, the proposed changes are intended to be stylistic only.