§ 135.725 Person injured or intended to be injured

If someone is charged with a crime that harmed another person, the charging papers don't have to name the victim perfectly. As long as the description of the crime is clear enough to identify what actually happened, a mistake in naming the person who was hurt or was meant to be hurt doesn't ruin the case.

In other words, courts care more about whether the facts clearly describe the crime than about getting every detail about the victim's identity exactly right. If someone reading the charges could still tell what act is being described, a small error about the victim's name or identity won't cause the charges to be thrown out.

This rule protects criminal cases from being dismissed over minor paperwork mistakes. It keeps the focus on whether the accused person clearly understands what crime they're accused of committing, rather than on technical errors that don't change the nature of the case.