Criminal Law

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Law concerned with private rights and remedies; it must be prosecuted by an individual, not the government; it attempts to resolve conflicts by providing a means of compensating someone who has been wronged

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Civil law

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to move forward with a case

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Prosecute

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A misdemeanor or a felony; An act or omission prohibited by law for the protection of the public, the violation of which is prosecuted by the state in its own name, and punishable by fine, imprisonment, other restrictions upon liberty, or some combination of these

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Crime

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An offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment not in excess of one year may be imposed

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Misdemeanor

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An offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonmentin excess of one year is authorized by this title

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Felony

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Conduct for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment, or the death penalty, or to a fine is provided by any law of this state or by any law, local law, or ordinance of a political subdivision of this state

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Offense

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precedented law; not written down originally; developed over time

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Common law

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written down crimes and punishments

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Code law

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Prior appellate court decision that guides judges in deciding current cases (Roe v. Wade)

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Precedent

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Principle that binds courts to stand by prior decisions and not disturb a settled point of law

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Stare decisis

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validate the trial court's decision; uphold decision

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Affirm

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Reverse decision made by trial court

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Disaffirm

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Send back down to lower court

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Remand

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A civil wrong; a private wrong other than a breech of contract

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Tort

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Individual, business, or other legally recognized entity that commits the tort

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Tort Feasor

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Someone who does something;

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Actor

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The benefit that an orderly society must be governed by established principles, and known codes, which are applied uniformly and fairly to all members

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Rule of law

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A bodily movement, and such term includes possession of property

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Act

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actual doubt; highest level of proof

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Reasonable doubt

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Proof by smallest amount of evidence; 51%

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Preponderance of evidence

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reasonable certainty

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Clear and convincing

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parts of a crime that the prosecution must prove

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Elements

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law passed after occurence of conduct constituting a crime

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Ex post facto

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blameworthiness for a crime

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Culpability

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Entity against whom the civil or criminal action is brought

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Defendant

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Entity who sues another party in a civil suit

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Plaintiff

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unconstitutional law because of imprecission or lack of clarity

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Void for Vagueness

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punishment that may prevent the offender from committing future crimes

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Specific prevention

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those procedures that effectively guarantee individual rights in the face of criminal prosecution

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Due Process

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The body of the crime; the government must prove that a crime has been committed and that somebody did it

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Corpus delicti

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person has an object on his person

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Actual possession

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person has object in custody but not under his control

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constructive possession

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person intends to harm one victim but harms another instead

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transferred intent

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act of a crime

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Actus rea

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state of mind for a crime

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Mens rea

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reason for doing something

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Motive

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intent to commit the act (no knowledge of law needed)

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General intent

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intend to do some further act or cause some additional consequence

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Specific intent

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commission of an actwithout legal excuse or justification

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Malice

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not just actors, but also encouragers, assissters, and hinderers

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Parties

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conduct before, during, and after a crime

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Complicity

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to encourage, incite, and set another onto a crime

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Abet

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Conspiritor before the crime is committed

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Accessory before the fact

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A person who learns of the crime after it was committed and helps to conceal it

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Accessory after the fact

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the responsibility of any third party that has the right, ability, or duty to control

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vicarious liability