assistant state's attorney
(s) (noun), assistant state's attorneys
(pl)
A prosecutor who serves under another prosecutor in local or state jurisdictions; government prosecutor: Sam read in the article about an assistant state's attorney who worked as an associate and colleague with the prosecuting attorney of the state he lived in.
assistant U.S. attorneys, AUSAs
(s) (noun); assistant U.S. attorneys;s, AUSAs
(pl)s
Government prosecutors who are subordinate to the U.S. attorney who heads the prosecutor's office for each federal district: Assistant U.S. attorneys who work in the criminal section of the U.S. Attorney's office, are frequently called federal prosecuteors.
attorney competence
(s) (noun), attorney competences
(pl)
Standards for determining whether clients are fairly and intelligently represented by their lawyers when they are charged with crimes: An attorney competence includes the necessary skills, expertise, and proficiency in juridical knowledge, thoroughness, and preparation in order to work on or deal with a case.
attorney general
(s) (noun), attorney generals
(pl)
Senior U.S. prosecutor in each federal district court: An
attorney general is the leading lawyer who can give advice to its government or its ruler.
An attorney general is the member of the President's cabinet and also heads the Justice Department.
attorney, lawyer, counsel
(s) (noun); attorneys; lawyers; counsels, counsel
(pl)
An individual trained in the law who has received a law degree from a recognized university: An attorney is authorized to practice law in a given jurisdiction.
attorney-client confidentiality and privilege
(s) (noun), attorney-client confidentialities and privileges
(pl)
The Relation between a counsel and his/her client wherein any information exchanged between them will not be disclosed to others: One aspect of the
attorney-client confidentiality and privilege is the trust in protecting the client and by not giving any information to the prosecutors.
Attorneys are protected from disclosing information about the clients they represent because of this privilege.
automatic waiver
(s) (noun), automatic waivers
(pl)
A jurisdictional law that provides for an automatic discharge of a juvenile to criminal court for processing: An automatic waiver is a legislatively prescribed directive to transfer juveniles of specified ages who have committed especially serious offenses to the jurisdiction of criminal courts.
automatism
(s) (noun) (no pl)
A set of actions taken during a state of unconsciousness: When a defense is founded on automatism, it maintains that, at the time of the crime, the defendant did not have psychic awareness or volition.
backdooring hearsay evidence
An action by a prosecutor when that person comments about or mentions information that is otherwise inadmissible in court.
Such remarks are usually made in front of a jury for their emotional and persuasive effects, which are otherwise barred because of the inadmissibility of such so called evidence.
backlog
A number of impending cases that exceeds the court's capacity which cannot be acted upon because the court is occupied in dealing with other cases.
bail
Surety provided by defendants or others to guarantee their subsequent appearance in court to face criminal charges.
Such bail is available to anyone entitled to it; however, not everyone is entitled to bail. It is denied when suspects are considered dangerous or likely to flee.
bail bond
A written guarantee, often accompanied by money or other securities, that the person charged with an offense will remain within the court's jurisdiction to face trial at sometime in the future.
bail bond companies
Any organization established for the purpose of posting bail for criminal suspects.
bail bondsperson, bail bondsman
Someone who is in the business of posting bail for criminal suspects.
A person who usually charges a percentage of whatever bail has been set.
bail recovery agent
Someone who works to take into custody a fugitive or someone who has jumped bail by fleeing the jurisdiction before a trial takes place.
A person who seeks to recover the amount of bail from a fugitive fleeing from justice.
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