Glossary

Legal right given to a person to manage the property and financial affairs of a person deemed incapable of doing that for himself/herself. (See also guardianship. Conservators have somewhat less responsibility than guardiuans.)

An act of disrespect to the court, willful disregard of the court's authority.

Deferring a trial or hearing to a later date.

A legally enforceable agreement between two or more competent parties made either orally or in writing.

A legal doctrine that says, if the plaintiff in a civil action for negligence also was negligent, he/she cannot recover damages from the defendant for the defendant's negligence. Most jurisdictions have abandoned the doctrine of contributory negligence in favor of comparative negligence.

A judgment of guilt against a criminal defendant.

Body of the crime. The objective proof that a crime has been committed. It sometimes refers to the body of the victim of a homicide or to the charred shell of a burned house, but the term has a broader meaning. For the state to introduce a confession or to convict the accused, it must prove a corpus delicti, that is, the occurrence of a specific injury or loss and a criminal act as the source of that particular injury or loss.

Supplementary evidence that tends to strengthen or confirm the initial evidence.

Legal adviser; a term used to refer to lawyers in a case.

A claim made by the defendant in a civil lawsuit against the plaintiff. In essence, a counter lawsuit within a lawsuit.

Government entity authorized to resolve legal disputes. Judges sometimes use "court" to refer to themselves in the third person, as in "the court has read the brief."

An officer appointed by the court or elected to oversee the administrative, nonjudicial activities of the court.

The expenses of prosecuting or defending a lawsuit, other than the attorneys' fees. An amount of money may be awarded to the successful party (and may be recoverable from the losing party) as reimbursement for court cost.

A written form (usually mailed) that is used to bring the required person to court.

A deputy clerk who maintains the verbatim record of court proceedings on tape.

A privately employed court person who maintains the verbatim record of court proceedings.

A claim by codefendants or coplaintiffs against each other and not against persons on the opposite side of the lawsuit.

The questioning of a witness produced by the other side.

Sentences for two or more crimes to run consecutively, rather than concurrently.

Detaining of a person by lawful process or authority to assure his/her appearance to any hearing; the jailing or imprisonment of a person convicted of a crime.