Criminal Defense Terms and Definitions

Fourteenth Amendment Among other matters, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without adequate due process. Accessory A person who assists in the commission of a crime, either before or after the fact. Abstract of record A short, abbreviated form of the case as found in the record. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Methods of resolving disputes outside of official court proceedings. These methods include mediation arbitration, and conciliation. Fraud An intentional perversion of truth; deceitful practice or device resorted to with intent to deprive another of property or other right. Miranda rule The rule, pronounced in Miranda v. Arizona, that confessions are inadmissible in a criminal prosecution if the police do not advise the suspect in custody of certain rights before questioning. Manslaughter A person recklessly causes the death of another, or acting under extreme emotional disturbance, causes the death of another, or acting under circumstances when a person reasonably believes the circumstances provide a legal justification or excuse for his conduct constitutes manslaughter. Battery Actual physical violence, whether serious or minor, inflicted on a person. (A mere threat is called assault, whereas the completed act is called battery) Dismissal without prejudice A dismissal which permits the plaintiff to sue again on the same cause of action or the state to proceed again. Dismissal with prejudice bars the right to subsequently bring an action on the same cause. Admissible evidence Evidence which can legally and properly be used in court.

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	Did You Know?
	Res Ipsa Loquitur - Literally, "a thing that speaks for itself." In tort law, the doctrine which holds a defendant guilty of negligence without an actual showing that he or she was negligent. Its use is limited in theory to cases in which the cause of the plaintiff's injury was entirely under the control of the defendant, and the injury presumably could have been caused only by negligence.