Arraignment: (n) The initial step in a criminal prosecution whereby the defendant is brought before the court to hear the charges and to enter a plea. Oftentimes, bond is set or reviewed at this hearing, too.
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Administrative License Suspension: The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has a process whereby for certain offenses, such as DUI / OVI, an individual's driver's license can be suspended for a failure to take a chemical test or for testing too high on a breath, urine, or blood test. The notice of this suspension is usually made by personal service by an officer of a yellow BMV 2255 form.
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Bifurcated: To separate into two parts, especially for convenience. Generally, in reference to a trial that is divided into two stages, such as for guilt and punishment (like a death penalty case) or for liability and damages (like in a civil case).
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Bind Over: (vb) A court may bind over a defendant if it finds at a preliminary hearing that there is enough evidence to require a trial on the charges against the defendant. Generally, there must be probable cause to believe a felony was committed, as well as probable cause to believe the accused is the person who committed that felony.​
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Complicity: (n) Association or participation in a criminal act; the act or state of being an accomplice.
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Contempt: (n) Conduct that defies the authority or dignity of a court or legislature.
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Discovery: (n) (1) Compulsory disclosure, at a party's request, of information that relates to the litigation; (2) The pretrial phase of a civil lawsuit during which deposition, interrogatories, and other forms of discovery are conducted.​​​
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Grand Jury: A body of (usually 12-23) people who are chosen to sit permanently for at least a month — and some times a year — and who, in ex parte proceedings, decide whether to issue indictments charging a suspect with a specific crimes.
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Gross Sexual Imposition: The act of forcing a person to have nonconsensual sexual contact (touching of an erogenous zone of another, including without limitation the thigh, genitals, buttock, pubic region, or, if the person is a female, a breast, for the purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying either person) with someone other than the offender. In Ohio, a violation of R.C. 2907.05.
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Hearing: A judicial session, usually open to the public, held for the purpose of deciding issues of fact or law, sometimes with witnesses testifying.
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Joint Tenancy: A tenancy with two or more co-owners who take identical interests simultaneously by the same instrument and with the same right of possession. Each joint tenant has a right of survivorship to the other's share. ​
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Lien: A legal right or interest that a creditor has in another person's property, lasting usually until a debt or duty that it secures is satisfied.
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Magistrate: The judicial officer with strictly limited jurisdiction and authority, whether, local, state, or federal.
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Mandamus: A writ issued by a court to compel performance of a particular act by a lower court or a governmental officer or body, usually to correct a prior action or failure to act. — Also termed writ of mandamus; mandate; order.​​
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Pandering: The act or offense of selling or distributing textual or visual material (such as magazines or videotapes) openly advertised to appeal to the recipient's of sexual interest.
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Personal Recognizance: A form of bond, which allows the release of a defendant in a criminal case whereby the court takes the defendant's word that he or she will appear for a scheduled matter or when told to appear.
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Petit Jury: A jury (usually consisting of 6 or 12 persons) summoned and empaneled in the trial of a specific case.​​​
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Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO): A state-court order or judgment that instructs a retirement plan administrator to divide a party's retirement account and (1) recognizes or provides for an alternate payee's right to receive all or part of any benefits due a participant under a pension, profit-sharing, or other retirement benefit plan, (2) otherwise satisfies § 414 on the Internal Revenue Code, and (3) is exempt from ERISA rule prohibiting the assignment of plan benefits.
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Quash: To annul or make void; to terminate.
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Replevin: A lawsuit to repossess personal property wrongfully taken or detained by the defendant, whereby the plaintiff gives security for and holds the property until the court decides who owns it.​​
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Subpoena: A writ or order commanding a person to appear before a court or other tribunal, subject to a penalty for failing to comply.
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