Legal #1
Used in criminal cases to designate the finding following a trial that the defendant is not guilty of the crime charged.
Acquittal
When it decides a case, the court generally issues an ____, which is a substantive and often lengthy piece of writing summarizing the facts and history of the case and addressing the legal issues raised in the case.
Opinion
One's accountability under the criminal law for one's acts; often considered in conjunction with Insanity, but also includes notions underlying the Automatism doctrine as well as other legal doctrines.
Criminal Responsibility
An ____ is an instruction or direction issued by the court.
Order
(Unlike an opinion, which analyzes the law, an order tells parties or lower courts what they are to do)
When one lacks capacity to understand the factual and rational nature and object of the proceedings, to consult with counsel, and to assist in preparing his or her defense.
Competency to Stand Trial
(The fundamental law of the nation)
The party that won in the lower court.
Respondent
A court that reviews the decision of a lower court. Focuses on the lower court's rulings on what was the law applicable to the case and the proper interpretation of that law.
Appellate Court
Means "to send back." Refers to a decision by the Supreme Court to send a case back to the lower court for further action.
Remand
Which amendment of the U.S. Constitution:
1. No person shall be required to answer for a capital offense or otherwise infamous offense on Indictment or presentment of a Grand Jury
2. No person will suffer double jeopardy
3. No person will be compelled to witness against him or herself
4. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law
5. Private property will not be taken for public use without just compensation
Fifth Amendment
The standard of proof required to be met by the prosecution in criminal trails; normally defined as a belief to a moral certainty that is of such a convincing character that a reasonable person would not hesitate to rely and act upon it in the most important of his or her own affairs.
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
(~90%)
The United States is divided into 13 ____, most containing groups of contiguous states, each with a different court of appeals.
Circuit
(The District of Columbia has its own circuit that hears many cases involving the federal government).
A witness who, by virtue of specialized knowledge or skill, can provide the fact-finder with facts and inferences drawn from those facts that will assist the fact-finder in reaching a conclusion on the issue addressed by the witness.
Expert witness
Sometimes, a justice votes with the majority of the court on the outcome of a case, but wants to write a separate _____.
Concurring opinion OR Concurrence
"You have the body."
A writ directing a state official in charge of detaining a person to produce that person in court so as to determine whether his or her liberty has been deprived in violation of due process.
Habeas Corpus
The Constitutional guarantee found in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the federal constitution that the government will act fairly when it attempts to deprive a person of life, liberty, or property.
Due Process of Law
The party asking the Supreme Court to review the case because they lost the dispute in the lower court
Petitioner
A reasonable ground for a belief in the truthfulness of a proposition. Most commonly used in the criminal law to refer to the degree of certainty required for issuing an arrest or search warrant or for detaining an arrested person.
Probable cause
(~40-50%)
The Supreme Court _________ when it decides, at the request of a party challenging the decision of a lower court, to review the merits of the case. At least four justices must vote to ______ in a case
Grant certiorari (Grant of certiorari)
Established where sufficient evidence has been presented to allow the case to continue; when established, the defendant will respond and proceed with his or her defense, if any, although the burden remains on the prosecution to prove each and every element of a charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
Prima Facie case
Stare Decisis
When the Supreme Court _____ a lower court ruling, it strips that ruling of effect, often in order to send the case back to the lower court for further proceedings.
Vacate
A legal doctrine that permits a person to refuse to disclose, and to prevent others form disclosing, communications between the person and his or her lawyer that are made during the course of their professional relationship.
Attorney-Client Privilege
"Friend of the court" brief; a brief filed by a person, group or entity that is not a party to the case but nonetheless wishes to provide the court with its perspective on the issue before it.
Amicus curiae brief
The judgement rendered in a criminal or civil case.
Adjudication