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Courtroom Vocabulary Words
Acquittal: A legal determination that a person who has been charged with a crime is innocent.
Appeal: A request for a higher court to review a decision made by a lower court.
Arraignment: When the accused is brought before the court to hear the charges against him or her. They plead guilty or not guilty at this time.
Conviction: The result of a criminal trial in which a person is found guilty.
Cross-examination: The questioning of a witness by the lawyer for the opposing side.
Direct-examination: The first questioning in a trial of a witness by the lawyer who called that witness.
Indictment: An accusation of a crime, made against a person by a grand jury upon the request of a prosecutor.
Information: An accusation of a crime, made against a person by the prosecutor.
Mistrial: A trial that becomes invalid, is essentially canceled, because of a mistake in procedure.
Motion: How a lawyer asks the judge to make a decision.
Objection: The opposing side finds fault with the question being asked the witness.
Overruled: The judge, following an objection, decides the questions may continue.
Sustained: The judge, following an objection, agrees that the line of questioning should not continue.
Verdict: A verdict of guilty or not guilty is handed down by the jury.
Sentence: The punishment given to a person who has been convicted of a crime.
Your Honor: The way a judge is addressed in a courtroom.
"Order in the Court." Fact Monster.
© 2003 Family Education Network.
30 Jan. 2004 <http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769420.html>.