 In United States v. Gooding ( 1827 ) , the Court held that , in general , it is sufficient for a criminal indictment to merely repeat the text of the statute . Further , the Court held that — " under circumstances of an extraordinary nature , " " on very urgent occasions " — a challenge to the sufficiency of an indictment could be made post @-@ conviction . In United States v. Mills ( 1833 ) , the Court again embraced the general rule that a sufficient indictment need only follow the terms of the statute . 
