New York Laws > Penal > Part 3 > Title P – Offenses Against Public Safety
Terms Used In New York Laws > Penal > Part 3 > Title P - Offenses Against Public Safety
- 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.
- Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
- Allegation: something that someone says happened.
- Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
- 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.
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- Antique firearm: means :
Any unloaded muzzle loading pistol or revolver with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system, or a pistol or revolver which uses fixed cartridges which are no longer available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- 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.
- 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
- Armor piercing ammunition: means any ammunition capable of being used in pistols or revolvers containing a projectile or projectile core, or a projectile or projectile core for use in such ammunition, that is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other
substances) from one or a combination of any of the following: tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or uranium. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Assault weapon: means
(a) a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the following characteristics:
(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
(iii) a thumbhole stock;
(iv) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand;
(v) a bayonet mount;
(vi) a flash suppressor, muzzle break, muzzle compensator, or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor, muzzle break, or muzzle compensator;
(vii) a grenade launcher; or
(b) a semiautomatic shotgun that has at least one of the following characteristics:
(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
(ii) a thumbhole stock;
(iii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand;
(iv) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of seven rounds;
(v) an ability to accept a detachable magazine; or
(c) a semiautomatic pistol that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the following characteristics:
(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
(ii) a thumbhole stock;
(iii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand;
(iv) capacity to accept an ammunition magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip;
(v) a threaded barrel capable of accepting a barrel extender, flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer;
(vi) a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the firearm with the non-trigger hand without being burned;
(vii) a manufactured weight of fifty ounces or more when the pistol is unloaded; or
(viii) a semiautomatic version of an automatic rifle, shotgun or firearm;
(d) a revolving cylinder shotgun;
(e) a semiautomatic rifle, a semiautomatic shotgun or a semiautomatic pistol or weapon defined in subparagraph (v) of paragraph (e) of subdivision twenty-two of section 265. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Assisted project: shall mean any project in respect of which the authority has granted a loan or guaranteed a loan. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Authority: shall mean the New York job development authority created by subdivision one of section eighteen hundred two of this title. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- balance sheet liability contribution: when used in relation to the New York city employees' retirement system, shall mean a payment of contribution which is required by the provisions of item (iv) of subparagraph (a) of paragraph one of subdivision b of section 13-127 of the administrative code of the city of New York to be made to such retirement system with respect to any fiscal year of the city preceding July first, nineteen hundred ninety. See N.Y. Education Law 6202
- 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
- Binary trigger system: means any device that, when installed in or attached to a semi-automatic firearm rifle, or shotgun causes that weapon to fire once when the trigger is pulled and again when the trigger is released. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- board: means the board of higher education of the city of New York. See N.Y. Education Law 6250
- board of trustees: means the board of trustees of the city university of New York. See N.Y. Education Law 6202
- Bump stock: means any device or instrument that increases the rate of fire achievable with a semi-automatic firearm, rifle or shotgun by using energy from the recoil of the weapon to generate a reciprocating action that facilitates repeated activation of the trigger. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Burst trigger system: means any device that, when installed in or attached to a semi-automatic firearm, rifle, or shot gun, allows that weapon to discharge two or more shots with a single pull or the trigger by altering the trigger reset. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Cane Sword: means a cane or swagger stick having concealed within it a blade that may be used as a sword or stilletto. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Chairman: means the chairman of the dormitory authority. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1695
- Chuka stick: means any device designed primarily as a weapon, consisting of two or more lengths of a rigid material joined together by a thong, rope or chain in such a manner as to allow free movement of a portion of the device while held in the hand and capable of being rotated in such a manner as to inflict serious injury upon a person by striking or choking. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- city: shall mean the city of New York. See N.Y. Education Law 6250
- city university: shall mean the city university of New York, including each senior college and each community college. See N.Y. Education Law 6202
- city university: means the city university of New York under the jurisdiction of the board of higher education of the city of New York. See N.Y. Education Law 6250
- commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture and markets of the state of New York. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 71-U
- committee: means the state committee for perfusion created by section sixty-six hundred thirty-four of this article. See N.Y. Education Law 6630
- 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.
- community college: shall mean an institution of higher education in the city of New York, which is governed and administered as such, by the board of trustees on July first, nineteen hundred seventy-nine, whose primary purpose is providing certificate and associate degree post secondary programs in general and technical educational subjects, and is receiving financial assistance from the state as a community college. See N.Y. Education Law 6202
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- comptroller: shall mean the comptroller of the city of New York. See N.Y. Education Law 6250
- Comptroller: shall mean the comptroller of the state. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- contributions for twenty-year amortization of nineteen hundred ninety senior college consolidated UAL and senior college remainder of BSL: shall mean all of the installments of contribution and contributions referred to in subdivisions 8-i to 8-n, inclusive, of this section which are required to be paid by the city and the state during the applicable twenty-year amortization period pursuant to section sixty-two hundred thirty-one of this article and the applicable provisions of subdivision bb of section 13-638. See N.Y. Education Law 6202
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- 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.
- curd: as used in this article applies to the substance otherwise known as "pot cheese" or "cottage cheese. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 48
- dairy product: means all milk and milk products defined by the definitions and standards of identity promulgated pursuant to section forty-six-a of this chapter and such other food products derived from milk as the commissioner shall designate by regulation. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 71-U
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Deface: means to remove, deface, cover, alter or destroy the manufacturer's serial number or any other distinguishing number or identification mark. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Disguised gun: means any weapon or device capable of being concealed on the person from which a shot can be discharged through the energy of an explosive and is designed and intended to appear to be either; (a) something other than a gun; or (b) a toy gun that shall include, but not be limited to, any rifle, pistol, shotgun or machine-gun displaying a color finish other than the original manufacture color, a decorative pattern or plastic like surface; provided, however, that any rifle or shotgun displaying a camouflage color finish or pattern that is intended for hunting, as defined by article eleven of the environmental conservation law, shall not be considered a "disguised gun" for purposes of this section. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
- Dispose of: means to dispose of, give, give away, lease, loan, keep for sale, offer, offer for sale, sell, transfer and otherwise dispose of. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- electing employee: shall mean any eligible employee who exercises his election pursuant to this article to come under the optional retirement program. See N.Y. Education Law 6250
- Eligible business facility: shall mean any type of business facility to be used or occupied by any person in an enterprise deemed to offer a reasonable likelihood for promoting the creation or retention of job opportunities in the state, and includes, but is not limited to, industrial or manufacturing plants, facilities for research and development purposes, facilities for conducting wholesale, receiving and distributing operations, facilities for conducting office operations, warehousing operations, or any other operation dealing in the exchange of goods, wares, services or other types of property of any type or description. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- eligible employees: means members of the instructional staffs of the colleges administered by the board of higher education in the city of New York pursuant to the provisions of Article one hundred twenty-five of the education law, who are employed in the following titles: president, dean, director, professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, tutor, fellow, lecturer, librarian, associate librarian, assistant librarian, library assistant, registrar, assistant registrar, registrar's assistant, principal, first assistant, supervisor, assistant teacher, critic teacher, teacher, college science assistant, college science technician, college engineering technician, and any other members of the instructional staffs of such colleges as defined in section sixty-two hundred six, subdivision 1b of the education law, and such other titles as the board in its discretion may add thereto, by reason of their close relationship to the educational purposes required to carry on the functions of the city university. See N.Y. Education Law 6250
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- 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
- 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
- Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
- 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.
- Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
- Federal agency: shall mean the United States of America, and any officer, department, board, commissioner, bureau, division, corporation, agency or instrumentality thereof. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- Felony: A crime carrying a penalty of more than a year in prison.
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Firearm: means (a) any pistol or revolver; or (b) a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length; or (c) a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length; or (d) any weapon made from a shotgun or rifle whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise if such weapon as altered, modified, or otherwise has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches; or (e) an assault weapon. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Firearm silencer: means any instrument, attachment, weapon or appliance for causing the firing of any gun, revolver, pistol or other firearms to be silent, or intended to lessen or muffle the noise of the firing of any gun, revolver, pistol or other firearms. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- 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.
- Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
- foreign dairy product: means any dairy product produced, processed or manufactured outside the United States. See N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law 71-U
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Ghost gun: means a firearm, rifle or shotgun that does not comply with the provisions of section 265. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- 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,
- Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
- 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.
- Gunsmith: means any person, firm, partnership, corporation or company who engages in the business of repairing, altering, assembling,
manufacturing, cleaning, polishing, engraving or trueing, or who performs any mechanical operation on, any firearm, large capacity ammunition feeding device or machine-gun. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- 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
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- insurer: shall mean a life insurance corporation, or other corporation subject to supervision by the department of financial services of the state of New York. See N.Y. Education Law 6250
- Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
- Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
- 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.
- Jurisprudence: The study of law and the structure of the legal system.
- Kung Fu star: means a disc-like object with sharpened points on the circumference thereof and is designed for use primarily as a weapon to be thrown. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Large capacity ammunition feeding device: means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device, that (a) has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than ten rounds of ammunition, or * (b) contains more than seven rounds of ammunition, or (c) is obtained after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand thirteen which amended this subdivision and has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than seven rounds of ammunition
* NB Suspended and NOT Effective per ch 1/2013 § 58, as amended by ch 57/2013 Pt. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Licensing officer: means in the city of New York the police commissioner of that city; in the county of Nassau the commissioner of police of that county; in the county of Suffolk the sheriff of that county except in the towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip and Smithtown, the commissioner of police of that county; for the purposes of section 400. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- 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.
- Loaded firearm: means any firearm loaded with ammunition or any firearm which is possessed by one who, at the same time, possesses a quantity of ammunition which may be used to discharge such firearm. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Loan: shall mean (i) a mortgage loan evidenced by a bond, note or other obligation of a local development corporation secured by a mortgage on a project, defined in subdivision fourteen (i) and (ii) of this section, made by a local development corporation, a project occupant or other person, firm or corporation; (ii) a loan evidenced by a bond, note or other obligation of a local development corporation, a project occupant, or other person, firm or corporation secured by a loan agreement, contract or such other instrument deemed necessary or
convenient on a project defined in subdivision fourteen (iii) of this section; (iii) a loan evidenced by a bond, note or other obligation of a local development corporation, a project occupant, or other person, firm or corporation secured by a security interest in machinery and equipment as provided in section eighteen hundred fourteen; and (iv) an employee ownership assistance loan made pursuant to paragraph (v) of subdivision fourteen of this section. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- Loan guarantee: shall mean the guaranteeing by the authority of a loan made by a banking organization on a project as defined in subdivision fourteen of this section. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- Local development corporation: shall mean a non-profit corporation incorporated or reincorporated under the laws of this state, regardless of its particular name, which shall meet the additional requirements of section eighteen hundred twenty-five of this title. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- Machine-gun: means a weapon of any description, irrespective of size, by whatever name known, loaded or unloaded, from which a number of shots or bullets may be rapidly or automatically discharged from a magazine with one continuous pull of the trigger and includes a sub-machine gun. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- mayor: shall mean the mayor of the city of New York. See N.Y. Education Law 6202
- Metal knuckle knife: means a weapon that, when closed, cannot function as a set of plastic knuckles or metal knuckles, nor as a knife and when open, can function as both a set of plastic knuckles or metal knuckles as well as a knife. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Misdemeanor: Usually a petty offense, a less serious crime than a felony, punishable by less than a year of confinement.
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Municipality: shall mean any county, city, town or village in the state. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- nineteen hundred eighty unfunded accrued liability adjustment: when used in relation to the New York city employees' retirement system, shall mean the total amount which is determined pursuant to the provisions of items (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) of subparagraph (c) of paragraph (3) of subdivision b of section 13-127 of the administrative code of the city of New York to be the amount to be paid as a charge or applied as a credit, as the case may be, pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph (b) of paragraph (1) of such subdivision b, with respect to employer contributions to such retirement system for any fiscal year of the city preceding July first, nineteen hundred ninety. See N.Y. Education Law 6202
- nineteen hundred eighty-two unfunded accrued liability adjustment: when used in relation to the New York city employees' retirement system, shall mean the total amount which is determined pursuant to the provisions of item (vi) of subparagraph (c) of paragraph three of subdivision b of section 13-127 of the administrative code of the city of New York to be the amount to be applied as a credit pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph (b) of paragraph (1) of such subdivision b, with respect to employer contributions to such retirement system for any fiscal year of the city preceding July first, nineteen hundred ninety. See N.Y. Education Law 6202
- NYCTRS installment of nineteen hundred ninety BSL contribution attributable to the senior colleges: shall mean any
installment defined in paragraph forty-eight of subdivision a of section 13-638. See N.Y. Education Law 6202
- 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.
- optional retirement program: means the retirement program established pursuant to this article. See N.Y. Education Law 6250
- 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.
- perfusion: means the provision of extracorporeal or intracorporeal patient care services to support or replace the circulatory or respiratory function of a patient, including the administration of pharmacological and therapeutic agents, and blood products, and the management, treatment and monitoring of the physiological status of a patient during the operation of extracorporeal circulation equipment or intracorporeal equipment that replaces or support circulatory or respiratory functions. See N.Y. Education Law 6630
- perfusionist: means a person who is licensed to practice perfusion pursuant to this article. See N.Y. Education Law 6630
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Pilum ballistic knife: means any knife which has a blade which can be projected from the handle by hand pressure applied to a button, lever, spring or other device in the handle of the knife. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Plant: shall mean real property, the buildings, improvements and structures thereon and the fixtures thereon other than machinery or equipment used by a project occupant in its operations. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- 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.
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
- Project: shall mean (i) the construction of a new industrial or manufacturing plant, a new research and development building or other new eligible business facility, (ii) the acquisition, rehabilitation or improvement of a former or existing industrial or manufacturing plant, of a former or existing building to be used for research and development, of a former or existing other eligible business facility, (iii) the construction, acquisition, rehabilitation or improvement of pollution control facilities, (iv) the purchase of machinery and equipment, for which financial assistance from the authority is sought, or (v) assistance to employees under an employee ownership assistance loan agreement made pursuant to subtitle six of this title; provided, however, that any such plant, building, facility or machinery and equipment therefore shall not be primarily used in making retail sales of goods or services to customers who personally visit such facilities to obtain such goods or services, or used primarily as a hotel, apartment house or other place of business which furnishes dwelling space or accommodations to either residents or transients. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- Project occupant: shall mean the business enterprise which proposes to use a project after construction, acquisition, rehabilitation or improvement. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- 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
- Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
- Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
- Rapid-fire modification device: means any bump stock, trigger crank, binary trigger system, burst trigger system, or any other device that is designed to accelerate the rate of fire of a semi-automatic firearm, rifle or shotgun. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- 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
- 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.
- revised unfunded accrued liability contribution: when used in relation to the New York city employees' retirement system, shall mean a payment of contribution which is required by the provisions of item (iii) of subparagraph (a) of paragraph one of subdivision b of section 13-127 of the administrative code of the city of New York to be made to such retirement system with respect to any fiscal year of the city preceding July first, nineteen hundred ninety. See N.Y. Education Law 6202
- Rifle: means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- salary: means all amounts paid by or for the city of New York as compensation for services rendered by an eligible employee. See N.Y. Education Law 6250
- Semiautomatic: means any repeating rifle, shotgun or pistol, regardless of barrel or overall length, which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge or shell to extract the fired cartridge case or spent shell and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge or shell. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Serialized: means bearing a visible identification number and/or symbol in accordance with the requirements imposed on licensed importers and licensed manufacturers pursuant to subsection (i) of Section 923 of Title 18 of the United States Code and regulations issued pursuant thereto in effect at the time of assembly, except for antique firearms as defined in subdivision fourteen of this section, as added by chapter nine hundred eighty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred seventy-four, or any firearm, rifle or shotgun manufactured prior to nineteen hundred sixty-eight. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Serious offense: means (a) any of the following offenses defined in the current penal law and any offense in any jurisdiction or the former penal law that includes all of the essential elements of any of the following offenses: illegally using, carrying or possessing a pistol or other dangerous weapon; possession of burglar's tools; criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree; escape in the third degree; jostling; fraudulent accosting; endangering the welfare of a child; obscenity in the third degree; issuing abortional articles; permitting prostitution; promoting prostitution in the third degree; stalking in the fourth degree; stalking in the third degree; sexual misconduct; forcible touching; sexual abuse in the third degree; sexual abuse in the second degree; criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree; criminally possessing a hypodermic instrument; criminally using drug paraphernalia in the second degree; criminal possession of methamphetamine manufacturing material in the second degree; and a hate crime defined in article four hundred eighty-five of this chapter. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
- 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.
- Shotgun: means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Small business: means a business which is independently owned and operated, and which is not dominant in the field of operation. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1695
- State: shall mean the state of New York. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- State agency: shall mean any officer, department, board, commission,
bureau, division, public corporation, agency or instrumentality of the state. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1801
- 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.
- Switchblade knife: means any knife which has a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in the handle of the knife. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Testify: Answer questions in court.
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
- 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.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Undetectable knife: means any knife or other instrument, which does not utilize materials that are detectable by a metal detector or magnetometer when set at a standard calibration, that is capable of ready use as a stabbing or cutting weapon and was commercially manufactured to be used as a weapon. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Unfinished frame or receiver: means any material that does not constitute the frame or receiver of a firearm, rifle or shotgun but that has been shaped or formed in any way for the purpose of becoming the frame or receiver of a firearm, rifle or shotgun, and which may readily be made into a functional frame or receiver through milling, drilling or other means. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
- Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
- 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
- Variable Rate: Having a "variable" rate means that the APR changes from time to time based on fluctuations in an external rate, normally the Prime Rate. This external rate is known as the "index." If the index changes, the variable rate normally changes. Also see Fixed Rate.
- Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.