Article 380 Sentencing in General
Article 390 Pre-Sentence Reports
Article 400 Pre-Sentence Proceedings
Article 410 Sentences of Probation, Conditional Discharge and Parole Supervision
Article 420 Fines, Restitution and Reparation
Article 430 Sentences of Imprisonment
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Terms Used In New York Laws > Criminal Procedure > Part 2 > Title L - Sentence

  • Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
  • Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Allegation: something that someone says happened.
  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Animal: means cattle, swine, sheep, goats, horses and other large domesticated mammals. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • 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.
  • Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
  • Appraisal: A determination of property value.
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • 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.
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • auction: means a public sale of cattle, swine or horses to the highest bidder. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • auctioneer: means a person who sells, or makes a business of selling cattle, swine or horses, at auction. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • 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.
  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • 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
  • board: means "board of directors". See N.Y. Banking Law 1001
  • camelid: means the entire family of camelidae. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • Carcass: means all parts, including viscera of a slaughtered animal, that are capable of being used for human food. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
  • cattle: means the entire family of bovidae. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • Chambers: A judge's office.
  • Charge to the jury: The judge's instructions to the jury concerning the law that applies to the facts of the case on trial.
  • Charitable or nonprofit organization: means any organization which is exempt from federal or state income taxation, except that the term does not include organizations which sell or offer to sell such donated items of food. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 71-Y
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture and markets. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Corporation: means and includes all banks, trust companies, safe deposit companies, investment companies, mutual trust investment companies, and, to the extent not provided otherwise under any regulation of the superintendent of financial services promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section fourteen-e of this chapter, stock-form savings banks and stock-form savings and loan associations. See N.Y. Banking Law 1001
  • 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.
  • Custom slaughtered meat: means meat from animals which have been slaughtered by a custom slaughterer for the owner exclusively for use, in the household of such owner, by him and members of his household and his non-paying guests and employees. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Custom slaughterer: means a person, firm, corporation or association who or which operates a place or establishment where animals are delivered by the owner thereof for slaughter exclusively for use, in the household of such owner, by him and members of his household and his non-paying guests and employees, provided, that such custom slaughterer does not engage in the business of buying or selling any carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat or meat products of any animal. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • deer: means any member of the family of cervidae. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Department: means the department of agriculture and markets. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Director: means any member of the governing board of a corporation, whether designated as director, trustee, manager, governor, or by any other title. See N.Y. Banking Law 1001
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • Donor: The person who makes a gift.
  • ear tag: means a unique, tamper-resistant device which, when affixed to the ears of cattle, deer, swine or camelid, identifies and distinguishes such animals. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • entire board: means the total number of directors which a corporation would have if there were no vacancies. See N.Y. Banking Law 7002
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • 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.
  • Farm dressed meat: means meat from animals slaughtered by a bona fide farmer who, as an incident of such farm operation, slaughters his own domestic animals on his own premises exclusively for use, in his household, by him and members of his household and his non-paying guests and employees. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Farm products: means any agricultural, dairy or horticultural product or any product designed or intended for human consumption or prepared principally from an agricultural, dairy or horticultural product. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 71-Y
  • Federal inspection: means the meat inspection maintained by the United States department of agriculture. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Federal law: means the federal meat inspection act and all acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • 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
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Game or wild game: means any deer or big game, or portions thereof, as defined in section 11-0103 of the environmental conservation law, taken by lawful hunting. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 71-Y
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
  • 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.
  • Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
  • horse: means the entire family of equidae. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
  • 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.
  • Inspection legend: means a mark or a statement authorized by the provisions of the federal law, on a carcass, meat, meat by-product, or meat food product indicating the product has been inspected and passed. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • 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.
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • live poultry market: means any premises where poultry are assembled and held for sale and slaughter. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • Meat: means the edible part of the muscle of cattle, swine, sheep, goats, horses and other large domesticated animals which is skeletal or which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart or in the esophagus, with or without the accompanying or overlying fat, and the portions of bone, skin, nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the muscle tissue and which are not separated from it in the process of dressing. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Meat by-product: means any edible part other than meat which has been derived from cattle, swine, sheep, goats, horses and other large domesticated animals. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Meat food product: means any product capable of use as human food which is made wholly or in part from any meat or other portion of the carcass of any animal, excepting products which contain meat or other portions of such carcasses only in a relatively small proportion or historically have not been considered by consumers as products of the meat food industry, and which are exempted from definition as a meat food product by the commissioner under such conditions as he may prescribe to assure that the meat or other portions of such carcasses contained in such product are not adulterated and that such products are not represented as meat food products. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Meat label: means a display of written, printed, or graphic matter authorized by the provisions of the federal law on a container indicating the meat, meat by-products, or meat food products contained therein have been inspected and passed. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
  • 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: 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.
  • Office: means in the case of a bank or trust company its principal office, in the case of a safe deposit company, investment company or mutual trust investment company, its principal place of business and in the case of a foreign corporation the place of business designated in its license or its authorization pursuant to article five-C of this chapter, as the case may be, for the oldest agency or branch in this state of such foreign corporation. See N.Y. Banking Law 1001
  • official backtag: means a unique device which, when affixed to cattle, deer, swine or camelid, identifies and distinguishes such animals. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
  • Organization certificate: includes (a) the original organization certificate or any other instrument filed or issued under any statute to form a corporation or foreign corporation, as amended, supplemented or restated by certificates of amendment, merger or consolidation or other certificates or instruments filed or issued under any statute; or (b) a special act or charter creating a corporation or foreign corporation, as amended, supplemented or restated by special acts or by certificates of amendment, merger or consolidation or other certificates or instruments filed or issued under any statute. See N.Y. Banking Law 1001
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • 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.
  • Person: means any person, firm, corporation, or association. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 96-G
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Petty offense: A federal misdemeanor punishable by six months or less in prison. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
  • Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
  • poultry: means a domesticated fowl including chickens, turkeys, waterfowl, guinea fowl and game birds commonly used for the production of meat and eggs. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • poultry dealer: means any person who buys or sells poultry as a business enterprise. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • poultry transporter: means any person who transports poultry as a business enterprise. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • Presentence report: A report prepared by a court's probation officer, after a person has been convicted of an offense, summarizing for the court the background information needed to determine the appropriate sentence. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. Source: FDIC
  • registration number: means the number assigned to and that identifies a particular domestic animal, which number and the identifying characteristics of such domestic animal are set forth in a registry maintained by a breed association recognized by the department. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • 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.
  • Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • 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.
  • sheep: means any member of the genus ovis. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • 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.
  • swine: means the entire super family of suidoidae, both feral and domestic. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 90-B
  • Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • 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.
  • Treasury shares: means shares which have been issued, have been subsequently acquired, and are retained uncancelled by the corporation. See N.Y. Banking Law 1001
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
  • Victim Impact Statement: A written or spoken statement by the victim or his or her representative about the physical, emotional, and financial impact of a crime on the victim. The statement is given to the court before sentencing.