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Rule 23.3 Necessity for forms of verdict.

RULE 23. VERDICT

← Previous Rule 23.2: Types of verdicts. Next → Rule 23.4: Several defendants.

Rule Text

Forms of verdict shall be submitted to the jury for each offense charged and, where warranted by the evidence, for all offenses necessarily included in each offense charged. The court may correct or complete the verdict, as to form merely, in open court in the presence of the parties and the jury.

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

When a criminal trial goes to the jury, the judge has to give the jury written verdict forms to use. There needs to be a form for each crime the person is charged with. If the evidence supports it, the judge also has to give forms for any lesser crimes that are automatically part of the bigger charge (for example, if someone is charged with a serious assault, a lesser form of assault might also need its own form).

This makes sure the jury has the right paperwork to record their decision on every possible charge that fits the case. It also means jurors are not stuck choosing only between guilty on the top charge or not guilty at all. They can convict on a lesser charge if that fits the evidence better.

If a verdict form has a small mistake or is filled out incorrectly, the judge can fix it. This has to happen in open court, with both sides and the jury present. The judge can only fix simple form issues, not change the actual decision the jury made.

Committee Notes

Committee Comments

This rule permits the jury to find the defendant guilty of the offense charged, of all or any offenses necessarily included in each offense charged, or of an attempt to commit the offense charged or an offense necessarily included therein, if the attempt is an offense. The rule places on the court the responsibility of deciding what verdicts the jury may return, restricting the jury to returning verdicts for which verdict forms have been submitted to it.

Under Rule 13.2(c), the indictment or information gives notice to the defendant that the trial will concern all necessarily included offenses as well as the offense specified. Under Rules 13.2(c) and 23.3, the prosecutor, as well as the defendant, is entitled to an instruction on any offense for which there is evidentiary support and for which a verdict form is submitted to the jury.

The last sentence of the rule allows the judge to correct a verdict that is erroneous in form, incomplete, or inconsistent, either with the assent of the jury in open court or by sending the jurors back to the jury room, with appropriate instructions if necessary. This would include submitting to the jury the correct form of verdict if it inadvertently had been omitted.

← Previous Rule 23.2: Types of verdicts. Next → Rule 23.4: Several defendants.

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Last updated: September 2026

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