Terms Used In New York Laws > Arts and Cultural Affairs > Title W > Article 61 - Miscellaneous Provisions

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Charge to the jury: The judge's instructions to the jury concerning the law that applies to the facts of the case on trial.
• 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.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Pre-trial motion: as used in this article means any motion by a defendant which seeks an order of the court:
  
  (a) dismissing or reducing an indictment pursuant to article 210 or removing an action to the family court pursuant to article 722; or
  
  (b) dismissing an information, prosecutor's information, simplified information or misdemeanor complaint pursuant to article 170; or
  
  (c) granting discovery pursuant to article 245; or
  
  (d) granting a bill of particulars pursuant to sections 100. See N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law 255.10
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Property: includes , but is not limited to, money, rights to claim refunds or rebates, postal savings deposits, bonds, notes, certificates, policies of insurance, other instruments of value, choses in action, obligations whether written or unwritten, and any thing of value of any nature whatsoever. See N.Y. Abandoned Property Law 1214
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trial jury: A group of citizens who hear the evidence presented by both sides at trial and determine the facts in dispute. Federal criminal juries consist of 12 persons. Federal civil juries consist of six persons.
• United States: means any officer, agency, department or instrumentality of the United States of America, other than a court, and any corporation organized under its laws. See N.Y. Abandoned Property Law 1214
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.