Superseding indictment? 更正起诉书

Reader question:

In the news, Donald Trump is hit with a superseding indictment. What is it exactly?

My comments:

Superseding indictment?

I don’t feel confident that I can answer this question competently, but I’ll do my best.

I’ve done my research. By that, I mean I’ve looked up a few words, namely, indictment, superseding, grand jury and so forth.

Now, an indictment is a formal accusation of wrongdoing. In matters of law, that means a formal charge of criminal act.

As you may know by now, former US President Donald Trump had previously been indicted for retaining classified documents that belong to the people or government of the United States. Last Thursday, he was hit with another one, this time a superseding indictment.

Which brings us back to the question, what is it?

What is a superseding indictment?

As I’ve found out, a superseding indictment is not much unlike an indictment. It’s just a new one replacing an old one. Superseding means, literally, sitting on top. A superseding indictment is therefore one that sits on top of an existing indictment, replacing it. Super, by the way, means above and beyond, as in, for example, supernatural.

The long and short – we’ll stick to the short – of it is, Trump is hit with new charges of wrongdoing in the superseding indictment, which now takes place of the old indictment, making the latter obsolete.

Are they allowed to do that?

Apparently, yes. According to the law of that land, federal (as against state) cases allow that.

Federal cases, by the way, must be tried by a grand jury, i.e. for a group of randomly chosen citizens – as members of the jury – to determine if the prosecutor has a case.

In Trump’s case, we don’t know that yet. As the saying goes, the jury is still out.

All right, let’s read a few media examples of “superseding indictment”, all about the Trump case.

Donald Trump, no doubt, will be happy about that, as the man likes to monopolize the attention.

Oh, well, for better or worse. Here are the examples:

1. Prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith’s office added new charges Thursday against former President Donald Trump in a superseding indictment in the case involving documents with classified markings discovered at his Florida resort.

Two of the new obstruction counts against Trump stem from alleged efforts to have the director of information technology at Mar-a-Lago delete security camera footage that was sought by a federal grand jury, according to the indictment.

Trump was previously charged with 37 felony counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of classified documents and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He has pleaded not guilty and claimed the prosecution is a politically motivated “witch hunt” against him. Speaking Thursday with Breitbart, Trump called the charges “harassment” and “election interference.”

The new document also names a third defendant in the case: Carlos De Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago property manager and former valet. He faces one count of altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing an object; one count of corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing a document, record or other object; and one count of making false statements and representations during a voluntary interview with federal investigators.

- Read the Trump superseding indictment text for details on new charges in the documents case, CBSNews.com, July 28, 2023.

2. The new charges against former President Donald Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified documents were outlined in what’s known as a superseding indictment.

It’s a document that amends and replaces the original indictment, listing the formal charges against a defendant.

A grand jury typically approves a superseding indictment after additional information or evidence has been obtained, and the new document usually adds charges or defendants to the case. However, in rare instances, minor deletions of details included in the initial indictment have been permitted.

The superseding indictment shows that special counsel Jack Smith has expanded his case. Trump, who was first indicted in this case last month, now faces three additional criminal charges: one additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts.

Among the new information listed in the superseding indictment, Trump allegedly willfully retained a top-secret document that was a “presentation concerning military activity in a foreign country” – which CNN previously reported was Iran – and discussed the document with biographers during a taped meeting in July 2021.

- What is a superseding indictment? CNN.com, July 28, 2023.

3. Former President Donald Trump and two others are facing additional charges in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving office.

The charges came in a superseding indictment returned by a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida that adds one defendant and four charges to the prior indictment filed against Trump and aide Walt Nauta.

The new charges include allegations involving the handling of surveillance footage and charges related to Trump’s unauthorized possession of a document that he was previously heard discussing on an audio recording.

Carlos De Oliveira, a current Trump Organization employee who sources tell ABC News is the head of maintenance at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, has been added to the obstruction conspiracy charged in the original indictment.

De Oliveira allegedly told another employee that “the boss” wanted the server containing Mar-a-Lago security footage deleted, and asked how long it kept footage, according to the indictment.

“What are we going to do?” he allegedly said.

- Trump allegedly attempted to have surveillance video deleted: Special counsel, ABCNews.go.com, July 28, 2023.

本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：张欣   编辑：丹妮）