ANSWERS GUARANTEE A+
✔✔Case Law - ✔✔the law as established by the outcome of former cases.
✔✔Caveat - ✔✔A warning to someone to be careful. Also a limitation or qualification on
something stated or agreed to. Also a proceeding to challenge the validity of a will.
✔✔Chain of Custody - ✔✔The sequence of persons who have possession of a thing to
be
offered as evidence. The party who offers certain things into evidence, such as the
narcotics in a drug case, must often prove who had custody of the evidence from the
time
it came under the party's control until the time it is offered into evidence to ensure that
the evidence is what the party contends it is.
✔✔to challenge - ✔✔To object or except to. In jury selection, to object to the inclusion
in the jury of a particular prospective juror.
✔✔Challenge for Cause - ✔✔Motion that a prospective juror be excused from service in
a particular case because of bias, incompetence, or another reason recognized under
law
as disqualifying a juror.
✔✔Admission - ✔✔A voluntary oral or written statement made by a person or his lawyer
that
certain facts exist or legal conclusions apply. When used in this sense, an admission
may
only tend to prove guilt or liability and is not necessarily a confession of guilt or liability.
Also, in the law of evidence, any statement by an opposing party.
✔✔Affiant - ✔✔The person who makes and subscribes an affidavit.
✔✔Aggravating Circumstances - ✔✔Factors which tend to increase the guilt or
liability of a person for a crime or other wrongful conduct, or the punishment or other
consequences therefor.
✔✔Bench Trial - ✔✔Trial held before a judge sitting without a jury. It usually requires
waiver by the defendant of a jury trial.
✔✔Bench Warrant - ✔✔An arrest warrant issued by a judge.
✔✔Beyond a reasonable doubt - ✔✔Burden of proof which prosecution must meet
to convict a criminal defendant. See "reasonable doubt," below.
, ✔✔Bill of Particulars - ✔✔A written statement of the particulars of the charges or
claims against the defendant or another party.
✔✔Chain of Venue - ✔✔The removal of a case begun in a court in one location to a
court
in another location.
✔✔Charge to the Jury - ✔✔The final address from the judge to the jury before jury
deliberations, in which he sums up the case and instructs the jury as to the rules of law
which the jury must apply to the various issues in the case.
✔✔Citation - ✔✔A written order requiring the appearance of a person at the time and
place
indicated therein. It may be issued in lieu of arresting the person. If the person fails to
appear, then an arrest warrant may be issued. Also a reference to the law (e.g., court
decisions, constitution, statutes, regulations) supporting a particular legal point.
✔✔Claim - ✔✔A right to or demand for money or other thing of value. More loosely, any
allegation.
✔✔Clear and Convincing Evidence - ✔✔A burden of proof applicable in certain
proceedings (e.g., indefinite commitment of the mentally ill) which requires a more
convincing level of proof than the greater weight of the evidence standard used in most
civil cases, but a less convincing level of proof than the beyond a reasonable doubt
standard used in criminal cases.
✔✔Clerk of Court - ✔✔Court official who supervises the administrative operations of the
court, including maintenance of case files.
✔✔Closing Argument - ✔✔The final statements by the attorneys seeking to persuade
the
judge or jury, as the case may be, to agree with their respective positions on the issues
on
the case, drawing on the evidence admitted and applicable law.
✔✔Common Law - ✔✔Body of law developed and derived through court decisions. A
common law crime is one which was or is still defined in court decisions, rather than a
statute. Also the type of legal system used in the United States, Great Britain, and
elsewhere based on common law, as opposed to the civil law system, which is based
on a
central code of laws.
✔✔Commutation - ✔✔Reduction of a criminal sentence.