Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 46 > Chapter 9 - Bail

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Arrest: means taking a person into custody in the manner authorized by law. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Bail: means the security given for the primary purpose of ensuring the presence of the defendant in a pending criminal proceeding. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• 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.
• Capital offense: A crime punishable by death.
• Charge: means a written statement that accuses a person of the commission of an offense, that is presented to a court, and that is contained in a complaint, information, or indictment. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Conviction: means a judgment or sentence entered upon a guilty or nolo contendere plea or upon a verdict or finding of guilty rendered by a legally constituted jury or by a court of competent jurisdiction authorized to try the case without a jury. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Court: means a place where justice is judicially administered and includes the judge of the court. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Judge: means a person who is vested by law with the power to perform judicial functions. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Judgment: means an adjudication by a court that the defendant is guilty or not guilty, and if the adjudication is that the defendant is guilty, it includes the sentence pronounced by the court. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• New trial: means a reexamination of the issue in the same court before another jury after a verdict or finding has been rendered. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Offense: means a violation of any penal statute of this state or any ordinance of its political subdivisions. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Parole: means the release to the community of a prisoner by a decision of the board of pardons and parole prior to the expiration of the prisoner's term subject to conditions imposed by the board of pardons and parole and the supervision of the department of corrections. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Peace officer: means any person who by virtue of the person's office or public employment is vested by law with a duty to maintain public order and make arrests for offenses while acting within the scope of the person's authority. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: means money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Prosecutor: means an elected or appointed attorney who is vested by law with the power to initiate and carry out criminal proceedings on behalf of the state or a political subdivision. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Sentence: means the judicial disposition of a criminal proceeding upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or upon a verdict or finding of guilty. See Montana Code 46-1-202
• Statement: means :

  (a)a writing signed or otherwise adopted or approved by a person;

  (b)a video or audio recording of a person's communications or a transcript of the communications; and

  (c)a writing containing a summary of a person's oral communications or admissions. See Montana Code 46-1-202

• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Usage: means a reasonable and lawful public custom concerning transactions of the same nature as those which are to be affected thereby, existing at the place where the obligation is to be performed, and either known to the parties or so well established, general, and uniform that the parties must be presumed to have acted with reference thereto. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Witness: means a person whose testimony is desired in a proceeding or investigation by a grand jury or in a criminal action, prosecution, or proceeding. See Montana Code 46-1-202