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Legal Terms for B.L
Question | Answer |
---|---|
affadavit | a swworn, written statement |
appeal | petitioning a hight court to review a case to reverse errors made at trial |
arraignment | bringing a defendant before a judge to allow him or her to hear the charges that were filed and make a plea |
arrest | offical detetion of a person for a criminal trial |
bail | money or property temporarially surrendered to the government by a defendant who will be released until trial to ensure that he or she will not flea the jurisdiction. It is returned to the defendant upon the trails conclusion |
Bill of Rights | the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution and they secure several of the most important rights of American citizens |
Book | to formal, clerical aspect of an arrest. During booking, several forms are filled out containing the defendants containing the defendants personal information and a description of the possesions he or she was carrying at the time of arrest. |
Ceritorari | pentioning the Surpreme coutry to hear an appeal |
Charge | an accusation of guilt, usually the first step in a criminal prosecution. |
Constitution | the document that defines the United States government. It also sets forth certain inalienable right of American citizens. The Constituition delimits the specific powers of each branch of the federal govenment, and sets forh their duties |
Cross examination | the period of questioning in a trial when the lawyers of one side interrogate a witness from the opposing side. |
Defendant | party against which a case is brought in a criminal or civil trial. |
Defense attorney | counsel employed to represent a defendant. |
direct examination | period of questioning in a trial when the lawyers of one side question their own witnesses. |
due process | guarantees and procedures built into the legal system into safeguard the civil rights of individuals. |
exclusionary rule | the provision that the Supreme Court has interpreted to exist in the Constitution that prohibits evidence obtained by means of an unlawful seizure from being admitted in a court of law |
execution | termination of human life by the government as punishment for a crime. |
federalism | the sharing of powers and responsibilities between the country's government as a whole (the federal government) and individual state governments. |
foreman | the jury members who speaks for the body as a whole |
grand jury | a panel which receive complaints and accusations of crimes, hears preliminary evidence , and hands down indictments |
habeas corpus | a judicial order, demanding someone to be present in court to determine if they are legitimately being detained |
hung jury | a jury which cannot agree on a specific verdict |
indictment | a formal accusation returned by a grand jury |
information | a formal accusation that is filed when an indictment is unnecessary because a public official formally accuses the defendant (usually a corporation) |
judge | the public official who presides over trials and rules on points of law that come into question during trial. |
jury | a group of unbiased persons who determine the facts of a given case. |
larceny | a type of stealing |
litigation | a lawsuit |
mistrial | when the judge declares a legal proceeding to not be a trial because of a major defect or gross error |
mitigating circumstances | facts that do not justify or excuse a crime, but lessen the amount of moral blame |
murder | when a person of sound mind (of sufficient age to create a criminal design and legally sane) kills any human being in the peace of the nation (excluding military actions)without a warrant of justification, and with malice aforethought, express or implied |
plaintiff | the side bringing civil charges against another party |
prison | a public institution detaining criminals serving long-term incarcerations |
prosecutor | public official who presents the government's case against a person accused of a crime. |
search and seizure | the act of law enforcement officers surveying a crime scene and taking into custody any contraband or evidence which has bearing on the immediate case. |
smuggling | secretly bringing illegal or taxable goods into a country |
testify | to give evidence under oath |
trauma | an injury to the body caused by an external blow |
voir dire | the examination of possible jurors by the judge and attorneys to determine if the jurors will be acceptable for the trial (unbiased) |
warrant | written permission given by a judge to a police officer to search a house, etc. Warrants can only be given based on probable cause, as evidenced by an affidavit completed by the law enforcement official |