A defendant's name misspelled on a sworn complaint cannot be corrected.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. It may be corrected only by the court
• D. It can be corrected by the defense attorney

Answer: (B)

A misspelled name on a sworn complaint is treated as a clerical error, not a fatal defect. Such errors can be corrected by amendment to reflect the correct name. The court has authority to amend charging documents to fix clerical mistakes, often through a motion by the prosecutor with notice to the defense. The defense attorney cannot unilaterally correct the filing; any correction typically happens via the court’s action, sometimes with agreement from the parties. Since a correction is permitted, the statement that it cannot be corrected is not correct.