• The indictment usu. cannot be amended at trial in a way that would prejudice the defendant by having a trial on matters that were not contained in the indictment. To do so would violate the defendant’s Fifth Amendment right to indictment by grand jury. [Cases: Indictment and Information 159. C.J.S. Indictments and Informations § 193.]
amendment of indictment
The alteration of the charging terms of an indictment, either literally or in effect, after the grand jury has made a decision on it.