Terms Used In Idaho Code 19-1507

  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • 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.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
  • 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.
The defendant, when arrested under a warrant for an offense not bailable, must be held in custody of the sheriff of the county in which the indictment is found, unless admitted to bail after an examination upon a writ of habeas corpus; but if the offense is bailable, there must be added to the body of the bench warrant a direction to the following effect, "or, if he requires it, that you take him before any magistrate in that county, or in the county in which you arrest him, that he may give bail to answer to the indictment"; and the court, upon directing it to issue, must fix the amount of bail, and an endorsement must be made thereon and signed by the clerk, to the following effect: "The defendant is to be admitted to bail in the sum of …. dollars."