Question | Answer |
Criminalistics | The examination of physical evidence. |
Evidence | Anything that tends to prove or disprove a fact.(Testimony, documents,and other objects) |
Ballistics | The science that deals with the motion, behavior, and effects of projectiles.(Most often firearms and bullets) |
Odontology | In forensics, examination of bite marks and dental identification of corpses. |
Pathology | Investigation of sudden, unexplained, or violent death. |
Entomology | The study of insects. |
Palynology | The study of pollen and spores |
Polygraphy | The use of the "lie detector" |
Statutory Law | Legislative acts declaring, commanding or prohibiting something. |
Common Law or Case Law | The body of law made up of judicial opinions ad precedents. |
Stare Decisis | "To stand by the decision" meaning previous legal decisions are to be followed. |
Civil Law | Law that deals with noncriminal suits brought to protect or preserve a civil or private right or matter. |
Criminal Law | Regulation and enforcement of rights, setting the acceptable limits of conduct in society. |
Misdemeanor | A minor crime, less than a felony, usually punished with a fine or confinement other than in a prison. |
Felony | A serious crime, such as murder, punishable by more than one year of imprisonment up to execution. |
Probable Cause | A situation in which a reasonable and prudent person, viewing the available information, would conclude that a crime has been committed and that the suspect committed it. |
Violation | A breach of a right, duty, or law. |
Infraction | Violation of a rule or law that is not punishable by prison. |
Elements | In criminal law, the specific factors or parts of a crime. |
Booking | A police procedure following arrest that records basic information about the suspect, a photograph, and fingerprints, and perhaps includes a lineup |
Miranda Rights or Miranda Warning | Rights guaranteed by the Constitution that police must tell arrestees about, especially the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. |
Arraignment | The first act in a criminal proceeding, where the defendant is brought before the court to hear charges and enter a plea. |
Bail | Money put up to guarantee that the defendant will appear in court as directed. A bondsman pays the bail for a fee of 10 percent of the bail amount. |
Nolo Contendere | In a criminal lawsuit, when a defendant neither admits nor denies committing a crime but accepts the punishment as though he or she were guilty. |
Preliminary or Evidentiary Hearing | A hearing before a magistrate or a judge to determine whether a person charged with a crime should be held for trial; also sometimes called a preliminary examination. |
Grand Jury | A group of people sworn to inquire into a crime and, if appropriate, bring accusations (indictments) against the suspected criminals. |
Indict | To formally accuse a person of a crime |
Plea Bargaining | An agreement in which a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser chare and the prosecutor in return drops more serious charges to avoid the cost and time of a trial. |
Probative | In evidence law, tending to prove something. |
Material | In evidence law, relevant and significant. A material witness has information about the subject. |
Hearsay | Testimony given by a witness who relates not what he or she heard, saw, or knows personally, but what others have said. |
Expert witness | A person who is a specialist in a subject that is often technical, who may present his or her expert opinion without actually witnessing any occurrence relating to the case |
Frye Standard | Commonly called the"general acceptance" test, the Frye standard dictates that scientific evidence is admissible at trial only if the methodology or scientific principle and has gained general acceptance in its particular field. |
Daubert Ruling | Revision of the Frye standard for admissibility of expert scientific evidence. |
Junk Science | Theories based on distorted, flawed, or untested hypotheses not derived from or tested by the scientific method. |