Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia

“ Unlawful assembly is a statutory offense in this District, but the strict rule of conforming to the language of the statute as to offenses purely statutory has its exceptions. "Where the offense is purely statutory, having no relation to the common law, it is, 'as a general rule, sufficient in the indictment to charge the defendant with acts coming fully within the statutory description, in the substantial words of the statute, without any further expansion of the matter.' 1 Bishop, Crim. ”

“ The 6th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, among other things, provides that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall 'be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.' In other words, when the accused is led to the bar of justice, the information or indictment must contain the elements of the offense with which he is charged, with sufficient clearness to fully advise him of the exact crime which he is alleged to have committed. ”

“ These safeguards of criminal pleading, inherited from the common law, were regarded of sufficient importance for the proper protection of the citizen to justify an incorporation of the rule into our fundamental law. ”