Criminal Defense Terms and Definitions

Assault A willful attempt to illegally inflict injury on or threaten a person. Misdemeanor A minor offense, lower than a felony, which is punishable by a county jail term of up to one year and/or a fine, but not prison. Misdemeanors are classified into three categories: Class A, B, and C. Bench warrant An order issued by the court for the arrest of a person 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. Burglary The unlawful breaking into or entering of a building or dwelling with the intent to commit a serious crime or theft. Search warrant An order issued by a judge or magistrate commanding a sheriff, constable, or other officer to search a specified location. Embezzlement The fraudulent appropriation by a person to his own use or benefit of property or money entrusted to him by another. Circumstantial evidence All evidence of an indirect nature. Testimony not based on actual personal knowledge or observation of the facts in controversy. Felony A felony is a major crime for which the maximum imprisonment is more than one year in a state correctional institution. The court may also impose a fine. Felonies are classified into four categories: capital, 1st degree, 2nd degree, and 3rd degree Fourteenth Amendment Among other matters, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without adequate due process.

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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.