The judicial system has a language of its own that lawyers, judges and clerks use with exactitude. The beginning reporter should learn these terms and add to them through reading and experience.

Officers of the Court

attorney: A prosecutor or defense lawyer whose duty is to represent his or her client. The attorney's role is partisan; he or she is an advocate. It is not unusual, therefore, for an attorney to try to sell his or her case to the press. The press should be skeptical of statements outside the courtroom.

bailiff: Keeps order in courtroom; takes charge of the jury; sees to it no one talks to the jury.

court clerk: Calls the court to order before each stage of the proceedings and administers the oath to witnesses. The clerk's office contains records of all judicial proceedings. This office is an excellent source of news.

court reporter: Records the courtroom proceedings. Unless records are sealed, transcripts can be purchased; the price varies from court to court and state to state.

judge: Presides over a trial, rules on points of law dealing with trial procedure, evidence and law. The jury determines the facts.

Court Terms

acquit: A verdict of not guilty; the legal and formal certification of innocence of a person charged with a crime.

adjudicate: To make a final determination through legal action.

adversary proceeding: An action that is contested by opposing parties.

alibi: Used in criminal law; to be elsewhere, in another place.

allegation: The assertion, declaration or statement of a party to an action; an assertion of what is expected to be proved.

amicus curiae: A friend of the court; one who interposes and volunteers information about some matter of law.

answer: A pleading by which the defendant tries to dispute the plaintiff's right to recover by disproving the facts alleged by the plaintiff or the principle of law relied on by him or her, or both.

appearance: The formal proceeding by which a defendant submits himself or herself to the jurisdiction of the court.

appellant: The party appealing a decision or judgment to a higher court.

appellate court: A court that hears appeals and reviews lower-court decisions, generally on the lower-court record only.

appellee: The successful party in the lower court against whom an appeal is taken.

arraign: In criminal practice, the formal calling of a prisoner to the bar of the court to answer charges in the indictment, or to give information as to whether he or she is guilty or not guilty. The suspect is acquainted with the charge against him or her following arrest; bail is set at arraignment.

arrest: The deprivation of a person's liberty by authority of the law.

autopsy: The inspection and dissection of a body to learn the cause of death.

bail: The security given for the release of a prisoner. Cash at a bond is placed in the court to guarantee that the person held in legal custody will appear at the time and the place the court sets. Defendants are usually entitled to be set at liberty on bail unless charged with an offense punishable by death and even sometimes in these instances. The judge or magistrate sets bail. The Constitution prohibits excessive bail.

bench warrant: An order issued by the court ("from the bench") for the attachment or arrest of a person.

beneficiary: One for whose benefit a trust is created.

bind over: To hold on bail for trial.

booking: The process whereby a suspect's name, address and purported crime are entered into a book in the police precinct or police headquarters.

bribery: The receiving, offering or soliciting by or to any person whose profession or business involves the administration of public justice or who has other official status in order to influence behavior. Giving or taking a reward in connection with voting also constitutes bribery.

brief: A written document prepared by counsel to serve as the basis for argument. It embodies the points of law that the counsel desires to establish.

burglary: Breaking and entering the house or other property of another with intention of committing a felony, whether the felony is committed or not. Burglary does not involve a crime against a person, which is robbery.

certiorari: An order commanding judges or officers of a lower court to certify the record of a case for judicial review by an appellate court.

challenge for cause: An objection to the qualifications of a juror for which a reason is given; usually on the grounds of personal acquaintance with one of the parties or the existence of a bias that may affect the verdict.

chambers: The private room or office of a judge.

change of venue: The removal for trial of a suit begun in one county or district to another or from one court to another in the same county or district.

charge: In criminal law, an accusation.

circumstantial evidence: All evidence of indirect nature; the process of decision by which the court or jury may reason from circumstances known or proved to establish by inference the principal fact.

code: A collection, compendium or revision of laws.

common law: Law that derives its authority solely from usages and customs of immemorial antiquity or from the judgment and decrees of courts.

commutation: The change of a punishment from a greater degree to a lesser degree, as from death to life imprisonment.

complainant: A person who brings a criminal or civil action.

complaint: The first or initiatory pleading on the part of the complainant, or plaintiff, in a civil action.

concurrent: In a prison sentence, terms that are to be served together (not in succession). In the judge's action or opinion, an agreement.

conspiracy: In criminal law, an agreement between two or more people for the purpose of committing some unlawful act.

contempt of court: Any act calculated to embarrass, hinder or obstruct a court in the administration of justice or calculated to lessen its authority or dignity. Contempts are of two kinds: direct or indirect. Direct contempts are those committed in the immediate presence of the court; indirect is the term chiefly used with reference to the failure or refusal to obey a lawful order.

contract: A promissory agreement between two or more persons that creates, modifies or destroys a legal relation.

cross-examination: The practice whereby an opposing lawyer questions a witness at a hearing or trial.

cumulative sentence: Sentences for two or more crimes to run successively rather than concurrently.

declaratory judgment: One that declares the rights of the parties or expresses the opinion of the court on a question of law, without necessarily ordering anything to be done.

decree: A decision or order of the court. A final decree is one that fully and finally disposes of the litigation; an interlocutory decree is a provisional or preliminary decree that is not final.

de facto: In fact or actually. Usually refers to a situation or an action that has the appearance of legality and is generally accepted as such but is actually illegal.

default: In an action of law, occurs when a defendant fails to plead within the time allowed or fails to appear at the trial.

defendant: A person in a criminal or civil action who defends or denies the allegations.

de jure: Rightful, legitimate, legal.

deposition: The testimony of a witness not taken in open court in pursuance of authority given by statute or role of court to take testimony elsewhere.

discovery: A proceeding whereby one party to an action may be informed about facts known by other parties or witnesses.

dissent: The explicit disagreement of one or more judges with the decision passed by the majority in a case before them.

docket: The list of cases set for trial in a court.

eminent domain: The power to take private property for public use by paying for it.

entrapment: The act of officers or agents of a government in inducing a person to commit a crime not contemplated by him or her, for the purpose of instituting a criminal prosecution against him or her.

evidence: Concrete objects presented at trial through witnesses, records and documents for the purpose of inducing belief in the minds of the trial judge or jury.

exculpatory: Clearing or tending to clear from alleged guilt.

ex parte: By or for one party; done for in behalf of or on the application of one party only, without notice to the other.

extradition: When one state (or nation) surrenders to another state an individual accused or convicted of a crime outside its territory.

felony: A crime of a graver or more atrocious nature than one designated as a misdemeanor. Usually punishable by more than one year in a penitentiary.

grand jury: A jury of inquiry whose duty is to receive complaints and accusations in criminal cases, to hear the evidence presented by the state and to find bills of indictment when the jury is satisfied a trial ought to be held.

habeas corpus: "You have the body." The name given a variety of writs whose object is to bring a person before a court or judge. In most common usage, it commands the official or person detaining another to produce the prisoner or person detained so the court may determine if such person has been denied liberty under due process of the law.

hearsay: Evidence not proceeding from the personal knowledge of the witness.

homicide: The killing of a human being.

in camera: In chambers; in private.

indeterminate sentence: An indefinite sentence of "not less than" and "not more than" so many years, the exact term to be served being afterward determined by parole authorities within the minimum and maximum limits set by the court or by statute.

indictment: An accusation handed up to the court by a grand jury.

indigent: A poor person. In court, an indigent is usually defended by legal aid or an attorney in the public defender's office.

information: A formal accusation of crime by the appropriate public official such as the prosecuting attorney. In some states, accused persons may be brought to trial by an information—a sworn, written accusation that leads to an indictment without a grand jury investigation.

injunction: A mandatory or prohibitive writ issued by a court.

instruction: A direction given by the judge to the jury concerning the law of the case.

jury: The court-approved individuals—12 for criminal cases and 6 or 8 for civil cases depending on the attorneys' stipulations—who decide the guilt or innocence of defendant(s) in a trial; their verdict in a criminal case must be unanimous. (Referred to as petit juries in criminal and civil cases.)

manslaughter: The unlawful killing without malice of another human being.

misdemeanor: Offenses lower than felonies and generally punishable by fine or imprisonment in other than a penitentiary.

mistrial: An erroneous or invalid trial; a trial that cannot stand in law because of lack of jurisdiction, wrong drawing of jurors or disregard of some other fundamental requisite.

no bill: This phrase, endorsed by a grand jury on the indictment, is equivalent to "not found" or "not a true bill." It means that, in the opinion of the jury, evidence was insufficient to warrant the return of a formal charge.

nolo contendere: "I will not contest it." The defendant's announcement that he or she does not contest the facts. The plea has the same legal effect as a plea of guilty, but it cannot be used as an admission of guilt elsewhere, as in a civil suit.

parole: The conditional release of a prisoner from confinement. The condition usually is that if the prisoner meets the terms of the parole, he or she will be given an absolute discharge from the remainder of the sentence. If not, the prisoner is returned to serve the unexpired term.

peremptory challenge: The right of parties in criminal and civil cases to dismiss a prospective juror without giving any reason. The number of such challenges is limited by statute.

plea: A response to the court made by the defendant or a representative either answering the charges or showing why the defendant should not be required to answer.

plea bargaining: The arrangement between prosecutor and defendant whereby the state offers to reduce the charges against the defendant in return for a guilty plea.

pleading: The process by which the parties in a suit or action alternately present written statements, each responding to the other and each narrowing the controversy until one or a few points, called "the issue," become the basis of the trial.

preliminary hearing: Follows arraignment; evidence is heard to determine if a crime has been committed and whether the matter should proceed to trial. The judge may dismiss the case if he or she feels the evidence against the suspect is insufficient or was illegally obtained. If the evidence is sufficient, he or she will bind the case over to the grand jury for possible indictment. If an indictment ensues, the case is transferred to a higher court.

presentment: The written action by a grand jury without an indictment; a presentment usually seeks to change the nature or operation of a particular institution that permitted offenses against the public.

probation: A suspension of sentence allowing a person convicted of a criminal offense to stay out of jail during good behavior and generally under the supervision or guardianship of a probation officer.

search warrant: A court order authorizing an officer or a citizen to search a specified house or other premises for evidence, stolen property or unlawful goods.

stay: An action that stops or arrests a judicial proceeding by order of the court.

subpoena: A process to cause a witness to appear and give testimony before a court or magistrate.

summons: A notification to the named person that an action has been commenced against him or her in court and that he or she is required to appear, on the day named, and answer the complaint in such action.

suspended sentence: A sentence withheld or postponed by the judge. In most cases, the suspension is indefinite and depends upon satisfactory probation reports.

term: Used in some jurisdictions to denote the ordinary session of court.

tort: An injury or wrong committed, either with or without force, to another person or the property of another.

unconstitutional: An action or law that is contrary to the Constitution or to state constitutions. (Do not confuse with "illegal.")

venire: Technically, a writ summoning people to court to act as jurors; popularly used for the body of names thus summoned.

venue: The place or county in which an injury or crime is said to have been committed.

voir dire: The preliminary examination that the court or lawyers may make of a prospective juror to determine whether he or she is acceptable to decide a case as a juror.

waiver of immunity: A means authorized by statutes by which a witness, in advance of giving testimony or producing evidence, may renounce the fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution that no person shall be compelled to be a witness against him or herself.

warrant of arrest: A writ issued by a magistrate, justice or other competent authority to a sheriff or other officer requiring him or her to arrest a person therein named and bring him or her before the magistrate or court to answer to a specified charge.

writ: An order issuing from a court of justice and requiring the performance of a specified act or giving authority and commission to have it done.