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| 1.The act of leading someone away by force or fraudulent persuasions. *Some jurisdictions have added various elements to this basic definition, such as the abductor must have the intent to marry or defile the person, the abductee must be a child, or that the abductee must intend to subject te abductee to cocubinage or prostitution. 2. Archaic. At common law, the crime of taking away a female person without her consent by use of persuasion, fraud or violence, for the purpose of mariage, prostitution, or illicit sex. - abduct, vb. - abductor, n. - abductee, n. See KIDNAPPING |
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| A single act of unplanned or thoughtless criminal behavior. |
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| 1. To aid, encourage, or assist (someone), esp. in the commission of a crime <abet a known felon>. 2. To support (a crime) by active assistance <abet a burglary>. - abetment, n. See AID AND ABET. Cf. INCITE |
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| A person who aids, encourages, or assists in the commission of a crime. - also spelled abetter. See principal in the second degree under principle |
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| The law as it aplies to persons who are under legal disabilities such as infancy, alienage, insanity, criminality, and (formerly) coverture. |
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| The spontaneous or artificially induced expulsion of an embryo or fetus. - abort, vb. - abortionist, n. |
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| 1. To depart secretly or suddenly, esp. to avoid arrest or prosecution. 2. To leave a place, usu. hurridly, with another's money or property. - abscondance, n. |
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| The difference between the percentage of a group in the general population and the percentage of that group in the pool of prospective jurors on a venire. See FAIR-CROSSE-SECTION REQUIRMENT; DUREN TEST; STATISTICAL-DECISION THEORY. Cf. COMPARATIVE DISPARITY |
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| See CONCLUSIVE PRESUMPTION under Presumption. |
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| 1. Release from a penalty; the act of oabsolving 2. An acquittal of a criminal charge. |
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| A summary of the court's finding on an offense, esp. a moving violation. |
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| See HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION. |
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| 1. A departure from legal or reasonable use; misuse. 2. Physical or mental maltreatment. |
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| Physical or psychological abuse of an elderly person by a caretaker. *Examples include deprivation of food or medication, beatings, oral assualts, and isolation. - also termed elder abuse |
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| The act or series of acts physically or emotionally injuring a child. *Child abuse may be intentional (as with sexual molestation) or negligent (as with some types of child neglect). - Also termed crueltyto a child; cruelty to children. See BATTERED-CHILD SYNDROME. Cf. CHILD NEGLECT |
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| 1. An illegal sex act, esp. one performed against a minor by an adult - also termed carnal abuse 2. See RAPE |
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| Physical, sexual, or psychological abuse inflicted by one spouse on the other spouse, See BATTERED-WOMAN SYNDROME. |
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| 1. To depart from legal or reasonable use in dealing with (a person or thing); to misuse. 2. To injure ( a person) physically or mentally. 3. To damage (a thing). |
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| The defense that a defendant is unable to to tell right from wrong because of physical or mental abuse suffered as a child. *Like the traditional excuse of insanity, the abuse excuse is asserted by a defendant in an efort to avoid all culpability for the crime charged. |
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| abuse-of-the-writ doctrine |
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| The principle that a petition for a writ of habeas corpus may not raise claims that should havebeen, but were not assertedd ina previous petition. Cf. SUCCESIVE-WRIT DOCTRINE |
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| 1. characterized by wrongful or improper use <abusive trial tactics>. 2. Of or relating to a person who treats another badly <abusive parent>. - abusivley, adv. |
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| Of or relating to the accessory in a crime <accessorial guilt>. |
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| An accessory who knows that a crime has been committed and who helps the offender try to escape arrest or punishment. * Most penal statutes establish the following four requirments: (1) someone else must have committed a felony, and it must have been completed before te accessory's act (2) the accessory must not be guilty as a principal; (3) the accessory must personally help the principal try to avoid the consequences of the felony; and (4) the accessory's assistance must be rendered with guilty knowledge. - Sometimes shortened to accessory after. |
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| See principal in the second degree under PRINCIPAL |
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| accessory before the fact |
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| An accessory who assists or encourages another to commit a crime but who is not present when the offense is actually committed. *Most jurisdictions have abolished this category of accesory and instead treat such a offender as an accomplice. - Sometimes shortened to accessory before. See ACCOMPLICE |
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| Homocide resulting from a lawful act performed in a lawful manner under a reasonable belief that no harm could occur. - Also termed death by misadventure; homocide by misadventure; killing by misadventure; homocide per infortunium. See justifiable homocide under HOMOCIDE. Cf. involuntary manslaughter under MANSLAUGHTER |
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