Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
appeals are made and decided on questions of law only.Issues of fact are left to the trial
judge discretion.
Arraignment - in a criminal case, the proceeding in which an accused person is brought
before a judge to hear the charges filed against him or her and to enter a plea of guilty or
not guilty.
Arrest - process of taking a person into custody.
Assault - intentional display of force that would give the victim reason to fear or expect
immediate bodily harm.
Attest - to bear witness; to affirm as true or genuine.
Attorney-at-law - an officer in a court of justice who is employed by a party in a case to
manage it for him.
Bail - money or security given to secure a person's release from custody which is at risk
should he/she subsequently fail to appear before the court.
Bail bond - the obligation signed by the accused to secure his/her presence at the trial
which he/she may lose by not properly appearing for trial.
Bailiff - a court attendant who keeps order in the court room.
Bar - the term means the whole body of lawyer's.Historically, the partition separating the
general public from the space occupied by the judge's, lawyer's, and other participants in a
trial.
Battered woman syndrome - a collection of symptoms that are manifest in women who
have suffered prolonged and extensive abuse from their spouses.
Beyond reasonable doubt - the standard in a criminal case requiring that court be
satisfied to a moral certainty that every element of a crime has been proven by the
prosecution, all reasonable doubt are removed from the mind of the ordinary person.
Bill of Particulars - a statement used to inform the defense of the specific occurrences
intended to be investigated in trial and to limit the course of evidence to the particular
scope of the inquiry.An amplification of the pleading.
Booking - the process of photographing, fingerprinting, and recording identifying data of a
suspect following arrest.
Brief - a written statement prepared by one side in a lawsuit to explain to the court its view
of the facts of a case and the applicable law.
Brutalization - the proposition that the use of capital punishment actually increases the
crime rate by sending a message that it is acceptable to kill those who have wronged us.
Capital crime - a crime punishable by death.
Case law - law created as a by-product of a court decisions made in resolving unique
disputes as distinguished from statutory law.
Case records - all notes, reports, custody, records, charts, analytical data, and
correspondence generated pertaining to a particular case.
Caveat - a warning; a note of caution.
Certification - procedure by which a certifying body formally recognizes that a body or
person complies with given qualifications.
Chambers - a judge's private office.
Child abuse - act of commission that is not accidental and that harms or threatens to harm
a child's physical or mental health or welfare.
Child neglect - failure of a parent or other person legally responsible for a child's welfare to
provide for the child's basic needs and a proper level of care with respect to food, clothing,
shelter, hygiene, medical attention , or supervision.Child neglect is an act of omission.
Circumstantial evidence - that evidence that only suggests an association with a past
occurrence.Any evidence in a case for which an inference is needed to relate it to the
crime.Not observed by an eyewitness.Fact from which another fact can be reasonably
inferred.
Civil commitment - the legal proceeding by which a person who is mentally ill and
imminently dangerous is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital.
Closing argument - also known as final argument, attorney's final statement to the court
summing up the case and the points points proven as well as those points not proven by
opposing counsel.
Common law - body of law based on judicial decisions (precedents or customs and usage)
generally derived from justice, reason and common sense rather than legislative
enactments.
Competency - possession of characteristics that qualify a witness to observe, recall, and
testify under oath; personal qualification of the witness to give testimony which differs from
the witness ability to tell the truth.
Complainant - the party who complain or sues, one who applies to the court for legal
redress, also called the plaintiff.
Concur - to agree with the judgment of another.When one court concurs with another, it
agrees with or follows the precedent set by that court's decision.
Concurrent sentence - sentences for more than one violation that are to be served at the
same time rather that one after the other.
Confession - an oral or written statement acknowledging guilt.
Consent search - exception to the requirement for a search warrant; written or oral
permission is required from a person with authority to give it.
Conspiracy - a combination of two or more person whose purpose is to commit unlawful
or criminal act or to commit a lawful act by criminal means.
Direct evidence - proof of facts by witnesses who saw acts done or heard words spoken as
distinguished from circumstantial or indirect evidence.Information offered by witnesses who
testify about their own knowledge of the facts.
Direct examination - the first questioning of witnesses by the party in whose behalf they
are called.
Direct questions - queries that are phrased in a positive and confident manner, are stated
clearly and address the topic in a forthright manner.
Discovery - a pre-trial procedure by which one party can obtain vital facts and information
material to the case to assist in preparation for the trial.The purpose of discovery is to make
for a fair trial and to allow each party to know what document and information the
opponents has in its possession.
Dismissal - action by the court that removes the court's jurisdiction over a given case.
Diversion - the process of removing some minor criminal, traffic or juvenile cases from the
full judicial process on the condition that the accused undergo some sort of rehabilitation or
make restitution for damages.Diversion may take place before the trial or its equivalent.
Docket - a list of cases to be heard by the court.
Double jeopardy - putting a person on trial more than once for the same crime.
Dying declaration - a statement made just prior to death with the knowledge of
impending death.Also called ante-Morten statement.
Element of a crime - specific factors that define a crime, every element of which the
prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to obtain a conviction.
Entrapment - an act by enforcement agencies that lures an individual into committing a
crime not otherwise contemplated for the purpose of prosecuting him/her.
Evidentiary standards - guidelines used in examining evidence to determine whether it
has been legally collected and whether it is factual and legally proves or is relevant to the
case being heard.
Ex-parte order - an order issued by a judge on its own.
Exclusionary rule - the rules that defines whether evidence is admissible in a trial.
Exigent circumstances - exception to the requirement for a search warrant when there is
no time to get a warrant and failure to search will lead to destruction or concealment of
evidence, injury to police or others, or escape of the suspect.
Expert testimony - statements given to the court by witnesses with special skills or
knowledge in some arts, science, profession, or technical area.Experts educate the court by
assisting it in understanding the evidence or in determining an issue of fact.
Expert witness - a legal term used to describe a witness who by reason of his/her special
technical training or experience is permitted to express an opinion regarding the issue or a
certain aspect of the issue that is involve in a court action.
Expunge - to strike out, obliterate, or mark for deletion from the court record.
Extradition - the process by which one state surrenders to another state a person accused
or convicted of a crime in the other state.
Felony - a crime of a graver nature than a misdemeanor, usually punishable by
imprisonment in a penitentiary for more than a year or a substantial fine.
Fence - a person in the business of buying stolen goods, usually for resale; to buy or sale
stolen goods.
Fraud - an intentional misrepresentation or deception employed to deprive another of
property or a legal right or to otherwise do them harm.
Frye standard - a set of standards set by the the court of appeals of the district of
Columbia in 1923 in the U.S in Frye vs. the United states.The standards in general define
when a new scientific test should be admissible as evidence in the court system.
Frye test - a test emphasizing that the subject of an expert witness's testimony must
conform to a generally accepted explanatory theory.
Gag order - a trial judge's order to attorney's and witnesses not to talk to the press about
the case.
Gault decision - land mark U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming that juveniles are
entitled to the same due process rights as adults the right to counsel, the right to notice of
the charges, the right to confront and cross-examine a witness, the right to remain silent,
and the right to subpoena witnesses in defense.
Habeas corpus - a writ that commands that a person be brought before a judge.A writ of
habeas corpus is a legal document that forces law enforcement authorities to produce a
prisoner they are holding and to legally justify his or her detention.
Hearing - judicial or legal examination of the issues of law and fact between the parties.
Hearsay - a statement made during a trial or hearing that is not based on the personal,
first hand knowledge of the witness.Statement made out of court and offered in court to
support the truth of the facts asserted in the statement.
Hearsay rule - the regulation making a witness's statement inadmissible if it is not based
on personal knowledge unless it falls within certain exceptions.
Holographic document - any document completely written and signed by one person.A
holographic may be probated without anyone having witnessed its execution.
Hostile witness - a witness whose testimony is not favorable to the party who calls him or
her as witness.
Immunity - grant by the court in which someone will not face prosecution in return for
providing criminal evidence.
Inadmissible evidence - the testimony/evidence that the judge rules as not proper and
hence instructs its disregard.
Incompetency - lacking the physical, intellectual,or moral capacity or qualification to
perform a required duty.
position.
Mass murder - a murder incident in which several victims are killed simultaneously or
within a relatively short period of time in the same general area.
Miranda warning - requirements that police tells a suspect in their custody of his/her
constitutional right before they questions him.Result of the Miranda vs. Arizona ruling.Law
enforcement procedure that forewarns suspects of their right to remain silent when in police
custody.Violation of this right makes the suspect's confession inadmissible in evidence.
Misdemeanor - criminal offenses considered less serious than felonies.Misdemeanor are
generally punishable by fine or a limited local jail term in the local jail.
Mistrial - a trial that is terminated before its normal conclusion and declared invalid prior to
judgment.
Mitigating circumstance - factors such as age, mental capacity, motivation, or duress
which lessens the degree of guilt in a criminal offense and thus the nature of the
punishment.
M'naghten rule - the test applied for the defense of insanity.Under this test, an accused is
not criminally responsible if suffering from a mental disease or defect at the time of
committing the act and not understanding the nature and quality of the act or that what
was done was wrong.
Moot - is one not subject to a judicial determination because it involves an abstract
question or a pretended controversy that has not yet actually arisen or has already passed.
Motion - an application for a rule or order, made to a court or judge.An application to the
court requesting an order or a rule in favor of the applicant.
Objection - the process by which one party takes exception to some statement or
procedure.An objection is either sustained or overruled by the judge.If the judge overrules
the objection, the witness may answer the question.If the judge sustain the objection, the
witness may not answer the question.
Omnibus hearing - hearing held in criminal court to dispose of appropriate issues such as
whether evidence is admissible before trial so as to ensure a fair and expeditious trial and
avoid a multiplicity of court appearances.
Opening statements - not part of the evidence, these orations made by the lawyers on
each side gives an overview of the evidence that will be presented during the trial.
Opinion - conclusion reported by a witness who qualified as an expert on a given subject.
Order - any written directive of a court or judge other than a judgment.
Order to show cause - order to appear in court and present reasons why a particular
order should not be executed.
Overrule - judge's decision not to allow an objection.Decision by a higher court finding
that a lower court