Aggravated Felonies

(C)  Boilerplate.  Archaic boilerplate that is not reflective of the elements of the statute will also not be considered as becoming part of the facts of the case:

The INS also argues that the indictment contains the term “with force and arms,” necessarily referring to non-custodial provisions of the statute. This use of archaic boilerplate, unnecessarily included in many Louisiana indictment forms, regardless of whether the crime involves a use of force or arms, is virtually irrelevant to whether the charge was brought under any particular section of the simple kidnapping statute.[232]

This same reasoning explains why conjunctive pleading, in which the prosecutor automatically charges each offense within a divisible statute as “A and B,” is ignored for divisible statute analysis.  See § 4.11, supra.

[232] Hamdan v. INS, 98 F.3d 183, 189 (5th Cir. 1996).