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ABET – encouraging or inciting a crime; abet usually applies to aiding an individual in the violation
of a law.
ACCESSORY – person who has knowledge of a law violation which has been committed and
assists the perpetrator to avoid arrest, trial, or punishment.
- One who aids or contributes in an unlawful act, either before, during or after, in a
subordinate or secondary capacity.
ACCOMPLICE – person who is equally responsible for an offense considered a violation of a law.
ACCUSE – to formally charge or declare another person of being guilty of a punishable offense.

Other than at the alleged scene at the offense with which he is charged.
- A statement or defense attempting to prove that a suspect charged with a crime could not
have committed that crime.
ALIEN– foreigner: a foreign –born resident of this country who has not become a naturalized
citizen.

ALLIGATOR PATTERN – a pattern of deep cracking on the surface of a material that has been
burned which could point to the point origin of the fire: appearance of charred wood that is
similar to the alligator skin
- Large rolling blisters indicates rapid intense heat, while small flat patterns indicate low
heat: the probable point of origin is normally where both the VS in the pattern and the
deep charring are found.

ALLEGATION – assertion without proof but which its advocate proposes to support with evidence.
AMICUS CURIAE - friend of the courts: usually an attorney who volunteers to assist the court in
whatever manner deemed necessary
AMPHITAMINES- stimulants
ANARCHIST – person who proposes the over-throw of the government by creating disorder and
violence.
ANIMUS FURANDI – fully intending to commit a theft (state of mind at the time the theft is
committed)
ANNUL – invalidate void and cancel
- Commonly used in annulment of marriage
ANONYMOUS – no name known or acknowledged: unsigned letter, note, etc.
ANTE LITEM MOTAM– before the institution of the action or commencement of litigation.
(see Gravador vs. Maniego, 21 July 1967, 20 SCRA 747)
ANTHROPOMETRY – a system of criminal identification developed by Alphonse Bertillon which was
based on 11 measurements of the human body frame.
- Having to do with the measurement of the human body to determine differences in races:
comparison with corresponding measurement or other individual.

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APPEAL – a request that a case removed from lower court to higher court.
APPELLATE – relating to appeals; person who appeals to a higher court; appeal from the decision
of a lower court to a higher court.
APPELLATE COURT – court that has the power to review appeals from another jurisdiction of the
lower court to a higher court.
APPELLEE – person appealed against: often times referred to as the “respondent”.
ARRAIGNMENT – bringing a person before a court of law to answer an accusation.
- The procedure of furnishing the accused with the copy of the complaint or information with
the list of witnesses, reading the same in the language or dialect known to him whether he
pleads guilty or not guilty; all of the procedures are made in open court by the judge or the
clerk of court.
ARREST – (legal definition) the taking of a person into custody in order that he may be bond to
answer for the commission of an offense (Rule 113, RRC).
ASPHYXIA – death due to lack of oxygen; death due to sudden or gradual cessation of oxygen
intake.
ASPORTATION – taken away; moving of items from one place and “transporting” said items to
another place; Removal of such goods is extremely important when considering an offense of
larceny.
ATTAINDER – loss of civil rights, inheritance, property etc.; such as loss of civil rights occur after
a person has committed treason or felony and received a sentence of death for his crime.
ATTEST – to bear witness and testify ender oath or signature
AUTOPSY – examination and dissection of a dead body to discover the

Cause of death; a post – mortem surgical examination

---------------B--------------B------------B---------------B--------------
BAIL – (legal definition) the security given for the release of a person in custody of the law,
furnished by him or a bondsman, conditioned upon his appearance before any court as required
under the conditions provided by the rules of courts. Bail may be in the form of: corporate surety,
property bond or cash deposit or recognizance.
BAILIFF – sheriff’s assistant who serves processes and officer has charge or prisoners and guards
the jurors in court.
BAILMENT – provision of bail for an arrested person.
BALLISTICS – the science dealing with the flight behavior of various types of projectiles.
BARBITURATE – depressant drug.
BENCH WARRANT – order issued by a judge or law court for the arrest of a person charged with a
contempt of court or criminal offense.
BENZIDINE TEST – a color reaction tests that indicates the presence of human blood.
BEST EVIDENCE – the original object or document
BIAS – preconceived opinion.
BIGAMY – the crime of willfully and knowingly contracting a second marriage when already legally

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married to another.
BILL OF RIGHTS – a declaration and enumeration of the individual rights and privileges which the
Constitutions is design to protect against violation by the government or by individual or group of
individuals. It is a charter of liberties for the individual and a limitation upon the power of the
state.
BLACKMAIL – some form of payments obtain by a person to prevent disclosure of information that
would bring disgrace or ruin if made public: also referred to s extortion.
BLOOD MONEY – the price paid for causing a person’s death.
BONA FIDE – in good faith
BOW STREET RUNNERS – an early group of English criminal investigators who operated as
directed by a court which was located in the Bow Street, London.
BRIBERY – the giving, offering, or taking of anything especially money, as an inducement to do
something illegal or wrong.
BROTHEL – establishment which commonly function as house of prostitution.
BUGGING – using a concealed electronic device to record conversations within a room without the
consent of those people involved.
BUNCO GAME – act or trick contrived to gain the confidence of the victim who is then defrauded.
This form of thief is handled by a special investigative unit in most police departments in US.
BURDEN OF PROOF – the requirement of continuous demonstration of guilt, or a proving of each
element of a crime against the accused, by the prosecution;
- The necessity of affirmatively proving a fact in dispute by a quantum of evidence as
the law demands.
BURGLARY – the unlawful entering of a building or structure with the intent to commit a felony or
theft.
------C-------------------C-----------C-------------C--------------C----
CADAVER – corpse; a person who has been dead over a period of time.
CASING – a type of fixed surveillance which is done by establishing an outdoor observation post;
the surveillant stays outdoors posing as a person who normally conducts his business in such
area.
CAUSA CAUSANAS – immediate cause and the last link in the change of causative factors.
CAVEAT EMPTOR – under this particular rule, it is incumbent upon the buyer to examine the
goods and determine any malfunctions or defects.
- Often termed as “let the buyer beware ”or “take care”
CERTIORARI – review: the higher court issuing a writ directing the lower jurisdiction to forward all
records and proceedings for review of trial issues in question.
CHAIN OF CUSTODY – The process, by which evidence is handled, transferred. Accounted for
from the time of discovery until the final disposition of the case where it is being used.
CHARGE – to impose a duty or obligation to someone else: to accuse
- The accusation itself
CHANGE OF VENUE – suit which is initiated in one locality or district may be changed to another

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locality for trial purposes

CHATTEL – item, article , or piece of property which is somewhat personal and transferable
CHECK KITING – a method of operation in which several checking accounts based upon non –
existent funds in the attempt to withdraw funds
CHILD ABUSE – any action or failure to act done by adults that endangers or impairs the health or
the emotional and/or mental development of the child
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE – evidence that does not directly prove the truth of the fact in
issue, but may established a strong inference as to the truth of the fact.
CLOSE TAILING – a moving surveillance where subject is kept constant within view: tight tailing
COCAINE – a narcotic drug extracted from the leaves and fruit of the coca plant
COERCION – the use of forceful means or physical compelling means to obtain information from a
suspect or offended party.
COLD BLOOD – crime not committed in a fit of anger
- This is term utilized in cases relating to homicides in which there is an absence of
emotion or violent passion:
- “the crime was executed , in cold blood.”
COLLUSION – secret agreement for fraudulent or illegal purposes; conspiracy; an agreement to
defraud another of his rights or to secure an object forbidden by law.
COMMITMENT – consignment to a prison in or jail: commitment by means of a court order or
warrant of a person to a particular facility or incarceration.
COMMON LAW – unwritten of the country based on custom, usage, and decisions of law courts as
contrasted with STATUTE LAW
- Common law marriage is not solemnized by religious or civil ceremony but effected by
an agreement to live together as husband and wife; cohabitation
COMMUNISM – a system of social organization in which goods are held in common.
COMPEL – to force
COMPUTER CRIME – frauds that are perpetrated through the misuse of an electric machine.
COMPLAINT –
1. Legal Definition: it is sworn written statement charging a person with an offense,
subscribed by the offended party, and peace officer, or other public officer charged with
the enforcement of the law violated.
2. It is a formal allegation or charge of the offender party.
CONCLUDING INVESTIGATION – the final phase of the investigation. Terminating an unsuccessful
case or preparing a successful case for prosecution.
CONFESSION –
1. It is a statement of direct acknowledgement of guilt for the commission of a criminal act: -
an admission of criminal guilt in a person charge with crime.
2. Confession refers to the direct acknowledgement of the truth of the guilty fact as charge
on of some essential part of the commission of the criminal act itself;
3. – a statement of suspect or accused which involves expressed acknowledgement of truth

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that he is guilty to the crime charged against him or to some essential part thereof.
Note: Confession must be voluntary in order to be admissible as evidence against the accused.
Confession by duress, coercion, extreme psychological restraint are not admissible in the court
of law.
CONFIDENTIAL SWINDLES – fraud or crimes that are based on deceit or misrepresentation of
facts.
CONSANGUINITY – blood relationship
CONSENSUAL CRIMES – offenses that are committed by mutual consent of parties involved;
hence said to be “victimless crimes” typical examples are vice offenses.
CONSPIRACY – an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime in concert.
CONSUL – a government official residing in a foreign country, who watches over the interest
of his countrymen.
CONTEMPT – disregard or disobedience of a public authority.
CONTUSIONS – injuries in which the skin is not broken, but the blood vessels are ruptured.
CORONER – a district officer whose function is to inquire into the circumstances and causes of
any violent or sudden death (with suspicion) occurring within his jurisdiction; often referred to
as the “Coroner’s Inquest”
CORPSE – dead body, commonly of a human being.
CORPUS DELICIT – literally it mean the body of a crime.
- It refers to the substance of the crime or the vital evidences that established the
essential elements of an offense or felony, in legal terminology; it refers to the basic
element of a crime (i.e...The death of a victim in a muter case).
- The facts constituting or proving the body of the crime; such that in murder case, the
corpus delicti is not the body of the victim, but the facts that death has occurred, and
that it is the result of murder.
CORROBORATE – to add credibility by evidence.
CORROBORATING EVIDENCE – confirmation by further evidence: seconding or conforming initial
evidence.
COUNTERFIET – to copy or imitate without authority, with intent to deceive or to defraud by
passing the imitation for the genuine.
COURT MARTIAL – a military court for the enforcement of the military regulations.
COVERT – covered; protected; clandestine.
CREDIBILITY – worthiness of belief.
CREDIBLE WITNESS – competent witness.
CRIME SCENE – LOCUS CRIMING – the location at which a suspected criminal offense has
occurred.
CRIME SCENE SKETCH – a measured drawing of a scene, showing the location of all the
important items, particularly physical evidence.
CRIMEN FURTI – larceny
CRIMINAL HOMICIDE – unlawful taking of another’s life in such a manner that he dies within a

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year and one day from the time the mortal wound is inflicted.
CRIMEN INCENDI – arson
CRIMINAL INSANITY – a mental state that precludes understanding of the criminal nature of the
act committed.
CRIMEN MAJESTATIS – treason
CROSS EXAMINATION – examination of a witness by an adverse party.
CROSS PROJECTION – a method of crime-scene sketching allowing for a 3 dimensional view of
the scene.
CRYPTOGRAPHY – the use of simple ciphers and codes to protect the security of messages
CYCLICAL CRIMES – offenses that occur or recur in certain patterns of regularity.
------------------D------------------D------------------D------------------D------------------D--------
DACTYLOSCOPY – the study of fingerprints as means of personal identification.
DEADLY WEAPON – weapon which is designed for the destruction of life or inflicting an injury;
“A deadly weapon likely to produce death or severe bodily harm.”
DEPAUCHERY – excessive hedonistic pleasure: usually I the sense of sexual immortality or the
unlawful excessive indulgence of lust in the form of sexual activity.
DEDUCTIVE REASONING - a thinking process in which a particular inference is drawn from a
generalization in the absence of all the facts or evidence.
DEFENSE COUNSEL – an attorney who represents the defendant in a legal proceeding.
DELIBERATELY – intentional violation of law; premeditation, intentionally, willfully; as previously
stated” in cold blood”.
DEMURRER – plea for the dismissal of a law suits in the grounds that even if the statements of
the opposition are true, they do not sustain to claim because they bare insufficient of otherwise
legally defective.
DEMOCRACY- a form of government which is directed according to the will of the people.
DEMURRER – a denial of the defendant that the allegations of the declaration, even if true, would
legally constitute a cause for action.
DENSITY GRADIENT TECHNIQUE – a technique commonly used to compare and analyze soil
evidences.
DERISION – mockery – ridicule
DICTUM – formal statement made by the judge; a judge’s statement or opinion on some legal
point other than the principle issue of the case. Such statement is usually utilized as illustration or
argument.
DIGAMY – a valid second marriage.
DIRECT EXAMINATION – the interrogation of a witness by the party, who called him.
DISCRETION – individual judgment: wise use of one’s judgement.
DISPUTE – controversy
DISSENT – disagree
DOCTRINE OF INFORMER PREVILEGE – a legal principle recognizing that an informer/confidential
informant’s identity should not be disclosed during trial if such disclosure would result in

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retaliation to the informer/confidential informant.

DOLI CAPAX – capable of evil intent.
DOMAIN – the absolute ownership of land.
DOMICILE - - DOMICIL – customary or permanent dwelling place, home, residence,. Taken in a
legal frame of reference, domicile refers to “one’s official or legal residence”.
DUE PROCESS OF LAW – the regular procedure in the administration of law; a procedure that is
done under the authority of a law that is valid.
 Due process of law has no exact definition for the reason that the idea expressed therein is
applicable under so many diverse conditions as to make any attempt at precise definition
impossible. However, for purpose of discussion, we can safely say that any deprivation of
life, liberty, or property is with due process if it is done under the authority of a law that is
valid (i.e. Not contrary to the Constitution) and after compliance with fair and reasonable
methods of procedure prescribed by law.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY – the defense in a criminal action that the defendant has previously been
tried for the same offense as now charged.
DURESS – coercion or compulsion: as “confession signed under duress”
- The use of mental compulsion to obtain information; usually involving the imposition of
restrictions or restraints on physical behavior.
DYING DECLARATION – a statement given by a victim who has proper knowledge or his or her
imminent death, and who actually dies after the declaration.
--------------------E----------------E--------------E---------------E-------------------E---------------
ELECTRONIC SURVIELLANCE – a method listening to and recording spoken interactions by using
devices that gather and amplify sound.
EMANCIPATION – rendered free or set at liberty by his parents guardian, or master. “A child
emancipated from his parents.”
EMBEZZLEMENT- fraudulent appropriation of money or goods entrusted to one’s care.
EMINENT DOMAIN – government’s power to take private property for public use.
EMPHATY the power to enter into the feelings of spirits of others
ENTRAPMENT – deceiving or tricking a person into committing a crime not contemplated by the
individual; entrapment does not imply the mere act of a police officer furnishing a person
opportunity to violate the law, where the criminal intent was already present.
EVIDENCE – (legal definition) the means suctioned by the Rules of Court (Rule 128-134), of
ascertaining in a juridical proceeding the truth respecting a matter of fact.
- It represents any question of fact; the procurement of facts to substantiate the
violation; the gathering of facts which would constitute sufficient evidence to prosecute.
- Any type of proof which, when legally presented during a trial, is admitted into the
official record for review of the judge or the court.
EXHIBITIONISM – the exposure of the sex organ, under other conventionally lawful
circumstances, for sexual gratification; commonly known as INDICENT EXPOSURE.
EXHUMATION – disinterment of a body from a tomb or grave

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EXPARTE – action in behalf of one party only

EX POST FACTO LAW – Under the Constitution, the state cannot pass any ex post facto law. An
ex post facto law which s passed after the occurrence of an act.
EXTENUATE – blame others; acquit
EXTORTION – use of coercion, force, or fear, property is obtained from others with his consent.
EXTRADITION – fleeing of a felon to another state and the surrender of a felon by the state
where he is found to a receiving state for prosecution of a crime committed in the state from
which the felon fled.
- A legal procedure by which a person who commits a crime in one jurisdiction (country)
and flees to another can be arrested in the second jurisdiction (country) and returned
to the original jurisdiction to be tried for the charge.

-------F----------------------F------------------F------------------------F-----------------------F------
FACSIMILE – Exact copy of the original
FALSE ARREST – unlawful physical restraint upon an individual of another’s liberty; such
restrictions could occur in prisons, jails, or other maximum security facilities.
FELONY – a crime more serious than a misdemeanor, generally punishable by incarceration in a
state confinement facility for at least one year.
FELONIOUS – malicious intent to commit a crime; an element here is INTENT.
FENCE – a buyer or seller of stolen property.
FETISHISM – a sexual perversion involving an inanimate object, specific body part; as the sole
stimulator for sexual gratification.
FINAL JUDGEMENT – a judgment which is not subject to appeal because of a statutory
determination or because the time for appeal has expired; a judgment of the highest court in any
jurisdiction; a judgment which ends the legal preceding by resolving the controversy.
FINGERPRINT CLASSIFICATION – a file-and-retrieval system in which various numbers and letters
are assigned to fingerprints in a multi step process.
FORENSIC – pertaining to the courts.
FORENSIC MEDICINE – medical jurisprudence
FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY – personal identification based on the examination of dental
characteristics.
FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST – a physician who specializes in the study of changes in the body
tissues as a result of disease or death, and the impact of such evidence of such legal cases,
typically homicides; may work with the coroner in determining the cause of death.
FORFIET – loss of a right by default
FORGERY – the making of alteration of a document without authority and with intention to
defraud; the making or altering of a written instrument.
FORTUITOUS – accidental
FORTUITOUS EVENT – one depending upon chance.
FRAUDULENT – that which is done with intent to swindle or usurp.

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FRIGIDITY – incapacity for sexual intercourse.

FRUCTUS LEGIS _ fruit of the law, ie.execution.
FRIVOLOUS - lacking in legal insufficiency.
FURANDI ANIMO – with intent to steal.
--------G------------G----------------------G-----------------------G----------------G----------G-----GAMACTA
– assault.
GAMALIS – legitimate child.
GENEALOGY – family history.
GESTATION – period of pregnancy.
GOOD CAUSE – substantial reason.
GOOD FAITH – honesty of intention and absence of information causing doubt of validity.
GUILT – culpability; the fact of having committed some offense or felony.
-------------H----------------------------------H---------------------------------H---------------------
HABEAS CORPUS – literally means “YOU HAVE THE BODY”
- An order to bring the body in court.
- A name given to various units having their object to bring a party before a court.
- It refers to a writ or order requiring that prisoner be brought before a court at a stated
time and place to decide the legality of his detention or imprisonment.
- In other words, the RIGHT OF HABEAS CORPUS safe-guards one against illegal
detention or imprisonment.
HEROIN – an opiate derivative chemically converted from morphine.
HOLOGRAPH – instrument, usually a deed or will, written entirely by person without the benefit
of an attorney or any kind of legal advice, it is written in his own hand and is accepted by courts
throughout the land of his last testament.
HOMICIDE – the killing of a human by another human; may be criminal or innocent
HOMOSEXUALITY – an erotic attraction to or sexual preference for a member of the same sex.
HYPNOSIS – a state of complete physical relaxation and intense mental concentration in which
the subject’s suggestibility is maximized.
-----------I---------------------------I--------------------------------I--------------------------I-------
IMMUNITY – exemption from prosecution, generally from information or testimony of value to
the state.
IMPUTABILITY – Imputability is the quality by which an act nay be ascribed to a person as its
author or owner. It implies that the act committed has been freely and consciously done and may
therefore, be out down to the doer as his very own.
IN – DEPTH – INVESTIGATION – a phase of the criminal investigation that follows up initial loads
developed during the preliminary investigation and opens up new areas of inquiry.
INDUCTIVE REASONING – a thinking process in which conclusion is reached only after all
particular facts are gathered.
INFORMATION
1. Legal definition -: it is the accusation in writing charging a person with an offense

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subscribed by the prosecutor and filed with the court (Rule 110. RRC .
2. In law. It exclusively refers to as accusation of criminal offense by a public officer such as
the prosecutor or a competent public officer on his oath or office.
3. It may refer to the processed data or set of related facts gathered by the investigator from
persons, files or records: or the knowledge acquired by the criminal investigator from
various sources.
INJUNCTION – writ or order from a court prohibiting a person or a group from carrying out a
given action, or ordering a given action.
INTTELLIGENCE – as an operation, it refers to the secret or clandestine collection and evaluation
of information about crimes and criminals not normally available to investigators through
ordinary / normal over sources.
- A law enforcement function concerned with gathering, evaluating, and disseminating
data related to criminal activity.
INTENT – the state of mind of the criminal in formulating a design or a resolve to do a particular
act.
- A communication involving 2 or more people, for the purpose of obtaining information.
IODINE FUMING – a technique in which crystals of iodine are exposed to heat source for the
purpose of revealing latent fingerprints.
INVESTIGATION – an inquiry or close examination.
- The process of making a careful study of a case or situation in order to discover the
facts about it. It primarily involves the exploration, observation, collection, analysis, and
evaluation of all data or raw facts in order to develop or produce an information that
will serve as a set of conclusion on the case or thing being studied.
--------J---------------J------------------J------------------------J-------------------J-----------------
JUDICIAL – any act done under direction of a court: involving the exercise of judgment.
JUDICAL ADMISSION – statements made by a party involving the exercising of judgment.
JURIDICAL NOTICE - the power of the court to accept as proved certain notorious facts.
JURISPRUDENCE – science or philosophy of law or system of laws; a part or division of a law.
JURIST – expert in law; scholar or writer in the field of law.
JUS SANGUINIS – the principle that the nationality is the same as his parents.
JUS SOLI – the principle that nationality is determined by the placed of birth.
JUST CAUSE – legitimate cause.
JUST COMPENSATION – compensation paid to one whose property has been taken in
condemnation proceedings.
JUSTIFICATION – valid defense for the performance or non-performance of an act.
JUST UTENDI – the right to use a thing.
JUXTAPOSITION – being placed in nearness; side by side.
-------------------K---------------------------K-------------------------------------K-------------------
KANGAROO COURT – mock court held in prison whereby prisoners judge another inmate.
KLEPTOMANIAC – compulsive thief; one who continues to involve in thefts of items because of an

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irresistible, persistent, and abnormal impulse or tendency to steal.

--------------------L---------------------L---------------------L--------------L-------------------------
LA COSTA NOSTRA – an American organized crime group (crime syndicate) with some roots in
the Sicilian Mafia.
LACERATIONS – ragged wounds of body tissue, as from blows inflicted with ablunt instrument.
LASVICIOUS – wanton; lustful.
LANDS AND GROOVES – RIFLINGS – raised and indented portions of a firearm barrel that serve to
impart a spinning motion to the bullet. The cutting tools used in the rifling process often produce
characteristic marks that may assist in firearm identification.
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT – an instrument whereby one makes a disposition of his property to
the effect after his death.
LATENT – hidden: concealed.
LATENT DEFECT – defect not apparent but which becomes evident in use.
LATENT PRINTS – fingerprint impression caused by a perspiration on the edges of the fingers
being transferred to the surface; these are fingerprints impressions that are invisible or semi
visible.
LAWSUIT – a request, appeal, action or proceeding in a civil court.
- The process of bringing a problem or claim, etc. before the court of law for settlement.
LAYOFF – termination of work by employer.
LEADING QUESTION – one which suggest answer.
LEAGL CAUSE – substantial fact that caused harm.
LEGAL OBLIGATION – an obligation to do and perform what the law requires.
LEWD – obscene; vulgar.
LEWDNESS – open and public indecency.
LEX TALIONIS – the law of retaliation/revenge.
LIABILITY – the condition of one who is under obligation to pay; an obligation to pay money.
LIREL – to defame another person’s reputation.
LINE –UP – an assembly of person’s including the suspect, viewed for identification purposes by a
crime victim or witness.
LINE UP IDENTIFICATION – the method of having the victims or witnesses identify suspects from
a group of at least 5 “suspected” individuals presented before them; used when the suspect is in
custody.
LIVIDITY – POST-MORTEM LIVIDITY – dark blue or purple discoloration of
PLAINTIFF – one who brings an action at law.
POLYGRAPH - a “lie detector “machine: a device that scientifically measures respiration and
depth of breathing, changes in the skin electrical resistance, and blood and pulse rate.
PORNOGRAPHY – subject matter that is judged to morally offensive to the degree of being
obscene: there is considerable debate over what constitutes pornographic material since there is
no legally workable definition of obscenity.
PORTRAIT PARLE – verbal description

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- A method of criminal identification in which the head and facial features are described
in a detailed manner.
POST MORTEM LIVIDITY – LIVOR MORTIS – dark blue or purple discoloration of the body where
blood has drained to the lowest part of the body after death.
POWER OF ATTORNEY – formal instrument (legal document) by which an agent is appointed.
PREMEDITATION – a degree of planning or preparation which shows that there is evil intent to
commit a criminal act
- Intentional, deliberate
PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE – greater weight of or more credible evidence.
PREROGATIVE – an exclusive privilege.
PRIMA FACIE – from the first disclosure or at first sight: “we will put on a prima facie case”:
-at first sight: a fact presumed true unless proven otherwise.
PRIMA FACIE CASE - case supported by sufficient evidence to justify a favorable verdict unless
contradicted by other evidence.
PRIMA-FACIE EVIDENCE – evidence which, standing alone unexplained or contradicted is
sufficient to maintain the proposition affirmed.
- It is such as, in the judgment of law, is sufficient to establish the facts, and if not
rebutted, it remains sufficient for that purpose.
PRINCIPAL the one who actually commits a crime.
PROBABLE CAUSE – reasonable ground to believe that suspect is guilty of an offense above more
suspicion.
- the existence of such facts and circumstances as would excite the belief in reasonable mind,
acting on the facts within the knowledge of the judge, that the person charged is guilty of the
crime of which he is prosecuted.
- Such facts and circumstances antecedent of the issuance of a warrant is sought to be issued has
performed particular acts, or committed specific omissions, violating a given provision of our
criminal laws.
Note: Only judge can determine the existence of the probable for the issuance of a warrant of
arrest or search warrant, and he must so determined personally.
PROSECUTE – to act or take legal proceedings against a person or a group of person for a crime
that is being or has been investigated.
- To carry on or conduct the legal procedures of bringing an offender to justice.
PROSECUTION – it may refer to the party who is prosecuting the criminal case; or it may refer to
the process of taking or conducting legal proceeding for the purpose of determining the guilt or
innocence of a person charged for committing a crime.
PSYCHOPATH – a mentally ill or unstable person who is often feel inadequate. Psychopaths are
immature, lacking in social responsibility, and often seeking immediate personal gratification in
criminal acts.
PSYCHOTIC – an individual suffering from a severe mental illness who has lost touch with reality.
PYROMANIA – morbid/ gruesome desire to burn a property (real).

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PYROMANIAC – a person who sets properties pon fire due to compulsive mental illness.
- Pyromaniacs commit arson to satisfy sexual or other impulses; they usually do not seek
any indemnity or material gain.
--------------Q------------------Q-------------------------Q--------------------Q-----------------
QUALIFY – to prepare to exercise a right, office or franchise; to limit, modify or restrict.
QUASI – as: as if: as it were.
QUASI –DELICIT – a tort in which there is an absence of malice.
--------R-----------------------R---------------R------------------R---------------------------R-------
RECIDIVIST – a person who continues to commit criminal acts – a habitual criminal – repeater.
RES GESTAE STATEMENTS – spontaneous statements made at the time when truthful than plan
responses.
RESPONDENT –a person who is charged for the commission of an offense or felony however, the
criminal case is not yet brought the court or that his case has not formally started its trial.
- A person whose case is still under examination by the prosecutor.
RESTITUTION – the term applied to the offender who makes amends to his victim in the criminal
offenses by paying a sum of money or by service.
RIGOR MORTIS – stiffing of portions of the body after death, presumably due to enzyme
breakdown: a post – mortem stiffening of the muscle beginning in the neck and jaw spreading
downwards throughout the body.
ROGUES GALLERY – mug shots gathered in police files and displayed in groups.
ROUGH TAILING – moving surveillance where it does not matter if the surveillant will be detected
by the subject.
------S-----------------------S------------------------------S---------------------S---------------------
SADIST – person who receives sexual gratification from causing pain to others, often through
mutilation.
SEARCH WARRANT – (legal definition) an order in writing issued in the name of the People of the
Philippines, signed by a judge and directed to a peace officer, commanding him to search for a
personal property described there in and bring it before the court.
SHOPLIFTING – taking items from retail stores without paying for them.
SPECTROGRAPH – laboratory instrument that burn minute samples of various substances to
determine the elements presents.
SPECTRO-PHOTOMTER
SUSPECT – used as a verb, it means to have a vague idea concerning the commission or
occurrence of a crime.
- Used a s a noun, it refers to a person who is mistrusted or has doubtful character thus
he is presumed to be guilty of the crime under investigation although he is not yet
properly arrested and brought to the court.
SELF – JUSTIFICATION – rationalization of one’s act or deeds.
SUBPOENA – order by the court compelling a person to appear in court (as witness)
- The subpoena (subuena duces tecum) may also require the party to bring with them all

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documents, records, evidence, which may be in their possession.

SUBSTANTIVE LAW – codified law, that particular part of law that creates and defines and
regulates rights, as opposed to remedial law which prescribes a particular mthod of obtaining
redness for their violations.
SUMMONS – official order to appear in court.
- A writ, directed to a public servant, usually a sheriff, to notify the person named that an
action had been taken against him court, and require him to appear in the date and
time named in the writ. In order to answer the complaint and the action in question.
SURVEILLANCE – the disguised or secret observation of places, persons, things, and vehicles for
the purpose of obtaining information concerning identities and/or activities of suspected criminals.
SWORN STATEMENT – a written statement, usually o a suspect, that is made under oath or
affirmation before the prosecutor or another person authorized to administer path on affirmation.
SYMPHATIZE – to share with another person’s emotions; to feel or express compassion.
-----------------T----------------------T---------------------T-------------------------T--------------
TACTICAL INTELIGENCE – information that serves current investigation
TIGHT TAILING – moving surveillance where the subject is kept constantly in view: also called as
close tail
TORT – wrongful act, injury, or damage (not involving a breach of contract) for which a civil
action can be brought.
TOXICOLLOGY – the study of poisons; a science used in case of food poisoning.
TRACE EVIDENCE – extremely small physical matters that can be used to tracj suspected persons.
TRIAL – act or process of trying, or putting proof
- A formal and legal examination of the facts by a court of law to decide the validity of a
claim.
TRUE SCENE – a crime scene where no evidence has been introduced o removed except by the
person/s committing the crime
- Also called an UNCONTAMINATED SCENE
----------------U--------------------------U----------------------------U-------------------------------ULTRA
VIOLET LIGHT – the invisible energy at the violet end of the color/electromagnetic spectrum that
causes substances emit visible light, commonly called fluorescence; light used to detect secret
inks, invisible laundry marks seminal stains, marked money, or extortion packages.
UNCONTAMINATED SCENE – see TRUE SCENE
UNDERCOVER – using an assumed/fictional identity to obtain information and/or evidence.
------------------V----------------V---------------------------------V---------------------------V------
VENUE – specific [lace in which a case is tried – “the court has jurisdiction of the case”
- The locality in which the cause of action occurs or where the crime is committed and
the locality in which a jury is drawn and the case is tried.
- It is that part of a declaration in an action that designate th country in which the trial is
to occur.
VICTIM – the offended party

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VICTIM COMPENSATION – financial assistance given to victims, especially those victimized by

crimes against persons.
VICTIMLESS CRIMES – offences connected with gambling, drinking, prostitution, abortion, drug
addiction, attempted suicide, crimes between consenting adult such adultery and concubinage.
VICTIMOLOGY – a term coined in 1947 by Benjamin Mendelshon a French lawyer; he joined the
Latin words VICTIMA and LOGOS.
- It is basically a study of crime from the point of vieof the victim, of the persons
suffering from injury or destruction by the action of another persons or a group of
persons.
VOICE PRINT – graphic record of an individual’s voice characteristics made by a sound
spectrograph that records energy patterns emitted by speech.
VICE STRESS EVALUATOR – a device that monitors the vocal quality of an individual, producing a
graph like reading indicating a possible lie.
-----------------W-----------------------W--------------------------W--------------------------------
WARRANT ARREST – WARRANT OF ARREST – an order in writing, issued in the name of the
People of the Philippines, signed by the Judge and directed to the peace officer, commanding him
to arrest a person designated/named there in and take him into custody that he may be bound to
answer for the commission of an offense.
WHITE COLLAR CRIMES – business related or occupation crime like embezzlement, computer
crimes, bribery, and pilferage. Etc.
- Crimes committed by persons of apparent respectability and high social status in the
course of their occupational and professional activities such a tax evasion graft an
corruption, nepotism, theft of cultural p[property, racketeering in drugs/narcotic, black
marketing and smuggling.
WIRE TAPPING – the method of intersecting and recording telephone conversation by using an
electronic device without the consent of either party involved in the conversation.
WRIT OF EXECUTION – such a writ maybe issued to confiscate property to satisfy a civil
judgment.
WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS –
1. An order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, directed to the person detaining
another, commanding him to produce the body of the prisoner at a designated time and
place, and to show sufficient cause for holding in custody the individual so detained.
2. A legal document calling for immediate juridical review of the circumstances pertaining to
the continued confinement of an accused person: designated to obtain prompt release of
one who is unlawfully detained.
WRIT OF MANDAMUS – writ which in essence is a command order. It is a writ issued by a court
ordering some official to execute the specific act described in the writ. The writ of mandamus is
an unusual remedy for a situation and, therefore. Will not be issued by the court in the official to
whom it is directed has the authority to perform such an act.

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