United States v. Paul D. Wood

In this appeal, we address Paul Wood’s challenge to the sufficiency of his indictment. A criminal indictment must safeguard two constitutional guarantees: “the Sixth Amendment right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation in order to prepare a defense; and the Fifth Amendment protection against twice being placed in jeopardy for the identical offense.” United States v. Russo, 527 F.2d 1051, 1058 (10th Cir.1975) (internal quotations omitted), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 906, 96 S.Ct. 2226, 48 L.Ed.2d 831 (1976). An indictment conforms to these minimal constitutional standards when…