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Competency
A witness's ability to observe, recall and recount under oath what happened. Criminal defendants must also be competent to stand trial; they must understand the nature of the proceedings and have the ability to assist their lawyers.
Leading question
One that virtually instructs a witness how to answer or puts into his mouth words to be echoed back; one, which suggests to the witness the answer, desired. Ordinarily prohibited on direct examination, although allowed on cross-examination.
Holographic will
A will entirely written, dated and signed by the testator in his/her own handwriting.
Fine
A sum of money paid as part of a penalty of conviction for a particular criminal offense.
Public defender
In a civil tort action such as a medical malpractice suit, the plaintiff must show that an act or omission of the defendant was a proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury or loss. Similarly, in a criminal action, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's action was the direct cause of the crime
Instruction
A direction given by the judge to the jury concerning the law to be applied in the case.
Jurisprudence
Formal study of the principles on which legal rules are based and the means by which judges guide their decision making.
Alibi
A defense claim that the accused was somewhere else at the time a crime was committed.
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