Criminal Defense Terms and Definitions

Fourth Amendment The 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects every person against unreasonable search and seizure by government officials. Accessory A person who assists in the commission of a crime, either before or after the fact. Embezzlement The fraudulent appropriation by a person to his own use or benefit of property or money entrusted to him by another. Fraud An intentional perversion of truth; deceitful practice or device resorted to with intent to deprive another of property or other right. 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) Circumstantial evidence All evidence of an indirect nature. Testimony not based on actual personal knowledge or observation of the facts in controversy. Allegation The assertion, declaration, or statement of a party to an action, made in a pleading, establishing what the party expects to prove. Fifth Amendment Among other rights, the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees that a person cannot be compelled to present self-incriminating testimony in a criminal (or juvenile) proceeding. Bench warrant An order issued by the court for the arrest of a person 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.