Court Procedures Unit 1 Vocab

Adversary Process

American Court System with two opposing sides and a neutral judge

Trial Court

Process by which a verdict is reached

Appellate Court

Reviews lower courts decision

Petitioner

The one who files suit (the prosecutor in a criminal court)

Respondent

The one who is accused or answers the petition

Defendant

Accused

Tort

Civil wrong doing

Plaintiff

The one bringing suit in a civil case/court

Witness

A person giving sworn testimony

Preponderance of the Evidence

The standards of proof in a Civil Trial

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

The standard of proof in a Criminal Court

Liable

Responsible

Parole

Supervised release from prison BEFORE sentence is completed

Restitution

Monetary payback for loss or injury

Allegation

An unproven statement

Indictment

The Grand Jury’s decision to proceed to trial with a capital case

Original Jurisdiction

Original= the first place a trial is heard. Jurisdiction= the court’s authority over the case

Assistant State Attorney

The prosecutor (charges the accused with a crime)

Assistant Public Defender

The defense attorney paid for by the state

Motions

Requests for the judge to make a decision

Depositional Hearing

Pretrial Questioning of an opposing witness (on the record)

Guilty

The judge or jury’s decision that the state has proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The Judge CAN overturn this

Not Guilty

The judge cannot overturn this verdict.

Hung Jury

A Jury’s inability to reach an unanimous opinion

Remand

A higher court such as the U.S Supreme court sending a case back to a lower court to re-try

Rehabilitation

Changes Behavior