The motion shall specify the alleged defects of the complaint or information and the details desired. – The accused may, before arraignment, move for a bill of particulars to enable him properly to plead and prepare for trial. A written statement used in both civil and criminal actions that is submitted by a plaintiff or a prosecutor at the request of a defendant, giving the defendant detailed information concerning the claims or charges made against him or her. Instead, the defendant must resort to the traditional forms of written discovery such as Form Interrogatories, Special Interrogatories, Demand for Production of Documents and Requests for Admissions.Sec. 2d 657, 677.) As such, the defendant in a lawsuit where the complaint only alleges breach of contract and a common count for "account stated" will not be able to utilize a Demand for Bill of Particulars. (Note that Even though Code of Civil Procedure section 454 authorizes a Demand for Bill of Particulars in an action "on an account," it is not available in an action on an "account stated". Plaintiff must seek leave of court (by noticed motion) to amend the bill of particulars just as he or she would to amend a pleading. At trial, plaintiff is limited to the items and amounts specified in his or her bill of particulars.
Unlike responses to discovery, a bill of particulars is conclusive as to the items and amounts claimed. Proc., § 454.) If the original complaint was verified, the bill of particulars must also be verified. It provides, in relevant part: (a) Demand.
Plaintiff’s response must itemize the specifics of the account, and must be delivered to the defendant within 10 days after service of the demand. a request for particulars must be made in order to be timely. Defendant’s demand must be in writing, but there is no particular form required. It is far easier and less expensive to send out a simple demand for bill of particulars than it is to draft interrogatories or to prepare for and take a deposition. A “demand for bill of particulars” enables a defendant to discover what was being claimed and to prepare for trial.Įxamples of common counts in which a defendant may serve a demand for bill of particulars on the plaintiff include open book accounts, for labor and materials furnished under a contract, for monies loaned, and for money had and received.Ĭode of Civil Procedure § 454 provides: ““It is not necessary for a party to set forth in a pleading the items of an account therein alleged, but he must deliver to the adverse party after a demand thereof in writing, a copy of the account, or be precluded from giving evidence thereof.”Īlthough written discovery such as interrogatories and oral depositions can be used for the same purpose, the bill of particulars remains an effective alternative procedure. However, MCL 767.44 requires a bill of particulars if seasonably requested by the respondent. When a plaintiff sues on a “common count”, the complaint usually gives no specifics as to the nature of the claim. MCR 6.112(E) provides that the court, on motion, may order the prosecutor to provide the defendant a bill of particulars describing the essential facts of the alleged offense. There is a little known, infrequently used, procedure in California called a Demand for Bill of Particulars which enables defendants who have been sued generally on a common count to force plaintiff to itemize the account on which the complaint is based.