Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 11 > Chapter 85 > Subchapter I - General Provisions

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Administration of criminal justice: shall mean performance of any of the following activities: Detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial release, posttrial release, prosecution, adjudication, correction supervision, or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders, criminal identification activities, and the collection, storage and dissemination of criminal history record information. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Beneficial interest: shall include any of the following:

  1. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502

• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Child: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Conviction data: means any criminal history record information relating to an arrest which has led to a conviction or other disposition adverse to the subject. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Criminal history background check: means the acquisition of state or federal criminal history record information for an individual. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Criminal history record information: shall mean information collected by state or federal criminal justice agencies on individuals consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, informations or other formal criminal charges and any disposition arising therefrom, sentencing, correctional supervision and release. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Criminal justice agency: shall mean :

  a. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502

• Criminal Justice Information System: shall mean the computer hardware, software and communications network managed, operated and/or maintained for the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Defense attorney: Represent defendants in criminal matters.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Disposition: shall include , but not be limited to, trial verdicts of guilty or not guilty, nolle prosequis, Attorney General probations, pleas of guilty or nolo contendere, dismissals, incompetence to stand trial, findings of delinquency or nondelinquency and initiation and completion of appellate proceeding. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Dissemination: shall mean the transmission of criminal history record information, or the confirmation of the existence or nonexistence of such information. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Documentary materials: shall mean any book, paper, document, writing, drawing, graph, chart, photograph, phonorecord, magnetic tape, computer printout, and any data compilation from which information can be obtained or from which information can be translated into useable form, or other tangible item. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502
• Enterprise: shall include any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, trust or other legal entity; and any union, association or group of persons associated in fact, although not a legal entity. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Law-enforcement officer: shall include police officers, special investigators pursuant to § 9016 of Title 29, the Attorney General and the Attorney General's deputies, state fire marshals, municipal fire marshals that are graduates of a Delaware Police Academy which is accredited/authorized by the Council on Police Training, sworn members of the City of Wilmington Fire Department who have graduated from a Delaware Police Academy which is authorized/accredited by the Council on Police Training, environmental protection officers, enforcement agents of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, environmental protection officers, enforcement agents of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, sheriffs and their regular deputies, agents of the State Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement, correctional officers, animal welfare officers of the Office of Animal Welfare, and constables. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• minor child: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Oath: includes affirmation in all cases where an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and "sworn" includes affirmed; and the forms shall be varied accordingly. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Pattern of racketeering activity: shall mean 2 or more incidents of conduct:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502

• Pecuniary value: shall mean :

  a. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502

• Personal property: shall include any personal property or any interest in such personal property, or any right, including bank accounts, debts, corporate stocks, patents or copyrights. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Principal: shall mean a person who engages in conduct constituting a violation, or one who is legally accountable for the unlawful conduct of another person or entity. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Racketeering: shall mean to engage in, to attempt to engage in, to conspire to engage in or to solicit, coerce or intimidate another person to engage in:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502

• Rap Back System: shall mean a service maintained by the FBI to provide authorized noncriminal and criminal justice agencies ongoing status notifications of any criminal history subsequently reported to the FBI in its criminal history system after the initial criminal or civil transaction thus eliminating the need for repeated background checks on a person from the same applicant agency. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Real property: shall mean any real property situated in this State or any interest in such real property, including, but not limited to, any lease of or mortgage upon such real property. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502
• real property: is synonymous with the phrase "lands, tenements and hereditaments. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recipient agency: means any government agency which is directed or authorized by law to conduct a criminal history background check for the purposes of employing or licensing any individual in this State. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Release status: shall mean information concerning whether or not an individual is incarcerated and the reason therefor, which shall include but is not limited to information concerning releases on bail, or on own recognizance, commitments in default of bail, referrals to other agencies, decision of prosecutors not to commence or to postpone criminal proceedings, release from institutions and any conditions imposed concerning those released. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 8502
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: shall include :

  1. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502

• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes its territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Unlawful debt: shall mean a debt incurred or contracted in an illegal gambling activity or business; or a debt which is unenforceable under state law, in whole or in part, as to either principal or interest. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 1502
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302