Terms Used In Maryland Code, CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 6-233

  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • 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.
  • Person: includes an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, representative of any kind, corporation, partnership, business trust, statutory trust, limited liability company, firm, association, or other nongovernmental entity. See
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • state: means :

    (1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or

    (2) the District of Columbia. See
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(a) In this section, “domestically related crime” means a crime committed by a defendant against a victim who is a person eligible for relief, as defined in § 4-501 of the Family Law Article, or who had a sexual relationship with the defendant within 12 months before the commission of the crime.

(b) (1) If a defendant is convicted of or receives a probation before judgment disposition for a crime, on request of the State‘s Attorney, the court shall make a finding of fact, based on evidence produced at trial, as to whether the crime is a domestically related crime.

(2) The State has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the crime is a domestically related crime.

(c) If the court finds that the crime is a domestically related crime under subsection (b) of this section, that finding shall become part of the court record for purposes of reporting to the Criminal Justice Information System Central Repository under § 10-215 of this article.