| A | B |
|---|
| booking | he formal process of making a police record of an arrest |
| arraignment | a court session at which a defendant is charged and enters a plea. For a misdemeanor this is also the defendant's initial appearance, at which the judge informs him or her of the charges and sets the bail |
| indictment | a grand jury's formal charge or accusation of criminal action |
| nolo contendere | Latin phrase meaning "no contest"; a defendant's plea to criminal charges that does not admit guilt but also does not contest the charges |
| contempt | any act to embarrass, hinder or obstruct the court in the administration of justice |
| bail | money or property put up by the accused or his or her agent to allow release from jail before trial. Purpose is to assure the court that the defendant will return for trial. |
| personal recognizance | a release from legal custody based on a defendant's promise to show for trial |
| pretrial motion | a document by which a party asks the judge tomake a decision or take some action before the trial begins |
| motion for discovery of evidence | the exchange of evidence and statements between opposing sides of a case |
| motion for a continuance | the suspensin or postponement of a trial or court proceeding; made on a case-by-case basis at the court's discretion |
| motion for a change of venue | asks the court to move a case to another county. It asks the court to order the other party to pay all costs of moving the case to the new county, including paying the new filing fee |
| motion to suppress evidence | motion that revolves around the exclusion of evidence from trial. It is a request made by a criminal defendant in advance of a criminal trial asking the curt to exclude certain evidence from the trial |
| judicial integrity | an argument for the use of the exclusionary rule, which emphasizes that courts should not permit lawbreaking by the police |
| deterrence | measures taken to discourage illegal actions |
| grand jury | a group of 16-23 people who hear preliminary evidence to decide whether there is sufficient reason to formally charge a person with a crime |
| exclusionary rule | a legal rule that generally prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence against the defendant at trial; it generally applies to violations of a defendant's 4th, 5th and 6th Amendment rights |
| plea baraining | in a criminal case, the negotiations between the prosecutor, defendant, and defendant's attorney. In exchange for the defendant agreeing to plead guilty, the prosecutor agrees to charge the defendant with a less serious crime, which usually results in a reduced punishment |
