Abiding Conviction
A belief that is lasting and firm, one that stays settled after careful thought.
In plain English
Glossary
The legal words the guide uses, each in a sentence or two of everyday English. A linked word in any chapter lands on its definition here.
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A
Accede
To agree to something, such as a request or a demand.
Accessory
Someone who helps a criminal before or after a crime.
Acquiescence
Going along with something without really agreeing with it.
Acquit
To officially decide in court that a person is not guilty of a crime.
Acquittal
A judgment that a person is not guilty of the crime they were charged with.
Adjournment
A pause or break in court proceedings until a later time.
Adjudicate
To make a formal decision or judgment about a dispute.
Adjudicatory
Relating to making a formal judgment or decision.
Admissibility
Whether evidence is allowed to be presented in court.
Admonish
To warn someone firmly. A judge's admonishment to a jury is a warning or reminder, such as not to talk about the case.
Admonition
A warning or instruction given by a judge to a jury.
Affidavit
A written statement confirmed by oath, used as evidence in court.
Affirmation
A solemn promise to tell the truth, used instead of an oath by a person who prefers not to swear one.
Aggravated
Made worse or more serious.
Aggravating
Making a crime more serious. An aggravating circumstance is a fact about a crime, such as cruelty to the victim, that can lead to a harsher sentence.
Alternate
An extra juror chosen to step in if a regular juror cannot finish the trial.
Arbitrator
An independent person chosen to settle a dispute.
Arraignment
The court hearing where a person charged with a crime is formally told the charge and answers it by pleading guilty or not guilty.
Ascertain
To find out for certain.
Attest
To state formally that something is true, often in writing or under oath.
B
Bailable
Allowing a person to be released on bail while waiting for trial.
Battery
The crime of hitting or harmfully touching another person on purpose.
Bifurcated
Split into two parts. In a bifurcated trial, the jury decides guilt first and the sentence in a separate hearing.
Binding
A rule or decision that must be followed by law.
C
Capital Case
A criminal trial where the defendant could be sentenced to death if found guilty.
Capital Offense
A serious crime that can be punished by the death penalty.
Challenge for Cause
A request to remove a potential juror because they are biased or unfit to serve.
Chancery
A court that handles cases based on fairness rather than strict law.
Circuit Court
A trial court that hears cases across a specific region or circuit.
Clemency
Mercy from a governor or president, such as a pardon or a shorter sentence.
Co-Defendant
A person charged in the same case as another defendant.
Codified
Arranged and written down into a formal system of laws.
Cognizable
Recognized by the law. A cognizable group is one the law protects from being left off juries, such as people of one race or sex.
Colloquy
A formal conversation in court. For example, a judge asks a defendant questions to make sure they understand a decision they are making.
Common Law
Law based on court decisions and customs rather than written rules passed by a legislature.
Commutation
Reduction of a legal penalty or sentence.
Complainant
The person who reports a crime or makes the complaint that starts a case, often the person the crime was done to.
Conscientious
Guided by one's moral sense of right and wrong.
Consecutive
One after another. Consecutive sentences are served one after the other, not at the same time.
Conservatorship
A court arrangement for a person who cannot manage alone. Someone is appointed to manage that person's money or daily life.
Constable
A local law officer who serves court papers and helps keep order, much like a sheriff's deputy.
Constructive Contempt
Contempt of court that happens outside the judge's presence, such as disobeying a court order.
Contempt of Court
Disobeying or disrespecting a court. A judge can punish it with a fine or jail.
Continuance
A postponement of a legal proceeding.
Corroborate
To back up with more evidence, such as a second witness who confirms what the first one said.
Cross Section
A group that reflects the mix of people in the whole community. Jury lists are drawn to be a fair cross section of the people who live there.
Cross-Examine
To question a witness who was called by the other side.
D
Defamation
Saying or writing something false that hurts another person's good name.
Deferral
Moving your jury service to a later date.
Deliberation
The private discussions a jury has to decide the outcome of a case.
Delinquent
Late in doing something required. A delinquent juror is one who did not answer a summons or did not show up.
Deposition
Testimony given under oath outside the courtroom before the trial, usually written down word for word.
Designee
A person chosen to act for someone else.
Directed Verdict
An order by the judge that the defendant is not guilty, made because the evidence is too weak for any jury to convict. The judge decides the case instead of the jury.
E
Elector
A person who is qualified to vote.
Element
One of the essential facts that must be proven to convict someone of a crime.
Elicit
To draw out, such as getting a fact or an answer by asking questions.
Embracery
The crime of trying to influence a juror with money, promises or threats.
Emolument
Pay, or any benefit that comes with a job.
Enacted
Made into an official law by a government body.
Enunciate
To state something clearly or officially.
Evince
To show clearly.
Excusal
Being excused from a duty like jury service.
Executor
A person named in a will to carry out its instructions.
Exemplary Damages
Another name for punitive damages: money a court orders someone to pay as punishment, on top of paying for the harm done.
Exhibit
A document or object shown in court as evidence.
Extortionate
Obtained by force, threats, or unfair means.
Extraneous
Coming from outside. Extraneous information is anything about a case that jurors learn outside the courtroom, such as from news reports.
F
Fact Finder
A person or group (like a jury) that hears evidence and decides what the facts are in a case.
Felonious
Relating to a serious crime or felony.
Felony
A serious crime, typically punished by at least a year in prison.
Fiduciary
A person legally trusted to manage another's property or money.
Foreperson
The head juror who acts as the leader and speaker for the jury.
Forfeiture
Losing property, money or a right as a penalty, or because a deadline was missed.
Forgery
The crime of making or changing a document or signature to trick people.
G
General Verdict
A simple guilty or not guilty decision with no explanation. It is what makes nullification possible and prevents acquittals from being overturned.
Grand Jury
A group of citizens that decides if there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime.
Guardianship
A court arrangement in which someone is appointed to care for a person who cannot care for themselves.
H
Heretofore
Before now; up to this time.
Hung Jury
A jury that cannot agree on a verdict. The judge usually declares a mistrial, and the case can be tried again.
I
Impanel
To select and swear in a jury. Also spelled empanel.
Incarceration
Being locked up in a prison or jail.
Incriminate
To show or suggest that someone is guilty of a crime.
Indeterminate
Not fixed in advance. An indeterminate prison term is a range, such as twenty-five years to life, rather than a set number of years.
Indict
To formally accuse someone of a serious crime.
Indictment
A formal accusation that someone has committed a serious crime.
Indigent
Too poor to pay for a lawyer or court costs. Being this poor is called indigence.
Infirmity
A physical or mental weakness or illness.
Information
A formal criminal charge presented by a prosecutor without a grand jury.
Infraction
A minor violation of the law, such as most traffic tickets, usually punished only by a fine.
Injunction
A court order that requires someone to do something or to stop doing it.
Instruction
A formal explanation given by a judge to the jury about the laws that apply to the case.
Intendment
Interpretation or meaning of a law or document.
Interdiction
In Louisiana, a court ruling that a person cannot manage their own affairs, with someone appointed to act for them.
Interrogatory
A written question asked formally in a legal case.
Intimated
Hinted or suggested without saying it directly.
Inviolate
Kept safe from being taken away or changed. When a constitution says the right to a jury trial shall remain inviolate, it means that right must be protected.
Irreparable
So serious that it cannot be fixed or undone.
J
Jurisdiction
The official power of a court to make legal decisions and judgments.
Jury Demand
A formal request for a trial by jury instead of a trial by a judge.
Jury Demandable
A charge that gives the defendant the right to request a jury trial.
Jury Nullification
A not-guilty verdict that a jury returns even though the evidence shows the law was broken. The jurors do it because they reject the law itself, or how it is being used in the case.
Jury Tampering
Trying to sway a juror about a case outside the trial, for example by contacting, threatening or paying them. It is a crime.
L
Larceny
Theft, meaning taking someone else's property without permission and intending to keep it. Petit larceny is theft of something of small value.
Libelous
Written in a false way that hurts another person's good name.
Litigation
A lawsuit, or the process of taking a dispute to court.
M
Magistrate
A judge with limited powers. A magistrate handles smaller cases and the early steps of bigger ones, such as setting bail.
Malfeasance
Wrongdoing by a public official in doing their job.
Manslaughter
Killing a person without planning to, such as in a sudden fight or through careless behavior.
Ministerial
Routine, done by following set steps with no judgment involved.
Miscarriage of Justice
A seriously unfair or incorrect outcome in a legal case, such as convicting an innocent person.
Misdemeanor
A minor crime that is less serious than a felony, usually punished by a fine or a short time in a local jail.
Misdemeanor Grade
Treated as a minor crime rather than a serious felony.
Mistrial
A trial that ends without a decision, usually because of an error or a deadlocked jury.
Mitigating
Making a crime seem less serious. A mitigating circumstance is a fact, such as the defendant's age or history, that can lead to a lighter sentence.
Moral Turpitude
Conduct that is dishonest or seriously wrong by community standards, such as fraud.
N
Necessaries
Things a person needs, such as food, water and a place to sleep.
Non Capital
A crime or trial where the death penalty is not a possible punishment.
Notwithstanding
In spite of, or regardless of, what was just stated.
Nullification
Short for jury nullification. It is a not-guilty verdict a jury returns because it rejects the law or how it is used, even though the evidence supports guilt.
O
Ordinance
A local law or rule made by a city or town government.
P
Partiality
Unfairly favoring one side.
Partisan
A strong supporter of a party, cause or person. As a describing word, it means taking one side.
Pecuniary
Relating to or involving money.
Peremptory
A right to reject a potential juror without giving a reason.
Peremptory Challenge
The right to dismiss a potential juror during jury selection without giving a reason.
Perjury
The crime of lying after swearing or promising to tell the truth.
Poll the Jury
To ask each juror individually if they agree with the verdict.
Pre Committing
Promising to decide a case a certain way before hearing all the evidence.
Precluded
Prevented or not allowed.
Prescribed
Set down as a rule by law. When a law prescribes something, it requires it.
Presentence
Before the sentence is given. A presentence hearing or report gives the judge information for deciding the sentence.
Presumption
Something the law treats as true unless it is proven otherwise. The presumption of innocence means a defendant is treated as not guilty unless the prosecution proves guilt.
Probable Cause
Enough facts to make a reasonable person believe that a crime was committed and that the accused person committed it.
Promulgated
Officially published or put into effect as a new law or rule.
Propound
To put forward a question or an idea for others to answer or think about.
Provision
A specific condition or rule written into a law or legal document.
Punitive Damages
Money a court orders someone to pay as punishment, on top of paying for the actual loss.
R
Rebuttal
Evidence or argument offered to answer what the other side presented.
Receiver
A person a court appoints to take charge of property or money while a dispute about it is settled.
Redacted
With names or other private details blacked out or removed from a document.
Repealed
Officially canceled or reversed, so that a law is no longer in effect.
Restitution
Payment that a person convicted of a crime is ordered to make to cover the harm done.
Reversible Error
A mistake at trial serious enough that a higher court throws out the result.
Revocation
Taking something back or canceling it officially, such as a permit or a rule.
S
Self-Represented
Going to court without a lawyer and speaking for yourself.
Sequester
To keep a jury apart from other people and the news during a trial, so nothing outside the courtroom can influence it. Keeping a jury apart this way is called sequestration.
Severally
One by one, each on their own.
Solicitor
In South Carolina, the elected prosecutor who brings criminal cases for the state.
Special Verdict
A jury's decision on specific factual questions rather than just a general guilty or not guilty.
Statute
A formal written law passed by a legislative body.
Statutory
Required, permitted, or created by a statute (a law passed by a legislature).
Stipulation
A formal agreement between opposing parties in a court case.
Subdivision
A specific, smaller section of a law or written rule.
Subornation
The crime of getting someone else to commit a crime. Subornation of perjury means persuading or paying a person to lie under oath.
Subpoena
A court order that requires a person to come to court, usually to testify, or to hand over documents.
Subsection
A smaller, specific part of a larger law or legal document.
Summation
A summary. In a trial, each side's closing argument is often called its summation.
Summons
An official order to appear in court. A jury summons orders a person to report for jury duty.
Surety
A person or company that promises to pay if someone else does not, such as on a bail bond.
Surrebuttal
A reply to the other side's rebuttal, answering new points it raised.
T
Talesman
A person called in to fill out a jury when not enough of the summoned jurors are left.
Thereto
To that thing or document just mentioned.
Thereupon
Right after that.
U
Unanimity
When every single member of the jury completely agrees on the decision.
Unanimous
A decision where everyone in the jury completely agrees.
Unannotated
Printed without added notes. An unannotated code is the text of the laws alone, without summaries of court cases.
Unconstitutional
Going against the rules laid out in the constitution.
Unexpunged
Not erased or removed from a record.
Unsoundness of Mind
Serious mental illness that keeps a person from thinking clearly.
V
Venire
The group of people called to court for jury duty, from which a trial jury is picked.
Verbatim
Word for word, exactly as written or said.
Vicinage
The local area or neighborhood where a crime occurred.
Voir Dire
The questioning of possible jurors by the judge and the lawyers before a trial, used to choose who sits on the jury.