Criminal Defense Terms and Definitions

Bench warrant An order issued by the court for the arrest of a person 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. Restitution Court-ordered payment to restore goods or money to the victim of a crime by the offender. Subpoena An official order to appear in court (or at a deposition) at a specific time. Failure to obey a subpoena to appear in court is punishable as a contempt of court. Circumstantial evidence All evidence of an indirect nature. Testimony not based on actual personal knowledge or observation of the facts in controversy. 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. Allegation The assertion, declaration, or statement of a party to an action, made in a pleading, establishing what the party expects to prove. Misdemeanor A minor offense, lower than a felony, which is punishable by a county jail term of up to one year and/or a fine, but not prison. Misdemeanors are classified into three categories: Class A, B, and C. Fraud An intentional perversion of truth; deceitful practice or device resorted to with intent to deprive another of property or other right. Levy A seizure; the obtaining of money by legal process through seizure and sale of property.

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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.