Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 21-28 > Article IV - Offenses and Penalties

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• 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.
• Agent: means an authorized person who acts on behalf of, or at the direction of, a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, or dispenser; except that these terms do not include a common or contract carrier or warehouse operator when acting in the usual and lawful course of the carrier's or warehouse operator's business. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• 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: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Coca leaves: includes cocaine, or any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of coca leaves, except derivatives of coca leaves, that do not contain cocaine, ecgonine, or substance from which cocaine or ecgonine may be synthesized or made. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Controlled substance: means a drug, substance, immediate precursor, or synthetic drug in schedules I — V of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• 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.
• Counterfeit substance: means a controlled substance that, or the container or labeling of which, without authorization bears the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, number, or device, or any likeness of them, of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser, other than the person or persons who in fact manufactured, distributed, or dispensed the substance and that thereby falsely purports or is represented to be the product of, or to have been distributed by, the other manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser, or which substance is falsely purported to be or represented to be one of the controlled substances by a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• delivery: means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer of a controlled substance or imitation controlled substance, whether or not there exists an agency relationship. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• Department: means the department of health of this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• Director: means the director of health. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• Dispense: means to deliver, distribute, leave with, give away, or dispose of a controlled substance to the ultimate user or human research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• Distribute: means to deliver (other than by administering or dispensing) a controlled substance or an imitation controlled substance and includes actual constructive, or attempted transfer. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• 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.
• Federal law: means the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, (84 stat. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• 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.
• 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.
• Imitation controlled substance: means a substance that is not a controlled substance, that by dosage unit, appearance (including color, shape, size, and markings), or by representations made, would lead a reasonable person to believe that the substance is a controlled substance and, which imitation controlled substances contain substances that if ingested, could be injurious to the health of a person. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• 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.
• magistrate: may be construed to mean a justice, or a clerk acting as a justice, of a district court. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• Manufacture: means the production, preparation, propagation, cultivation, compounding, or processing of a drug or other substance, including an imitation controlled substance, either directly or indirectly or by extraction from substances of natural origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis and includes any packaging or repackaging of the substance or labeling or relabeling of its container in conformity with the general laws of this state except by a practitioner as an incident to his or her administration or dispensing of the drug or substance in the course of his or her professional practice. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• Manufacturer: means a person who manufactures but does not include an apothecary who compounds controlled substances to be sold or dispensed on prescriptions. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• Marijuana: means all parts of the plant cannabis sativa L. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• 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.
• Ounce: means an avoirdupois ounce as applied to solids and semi-solids, and a fluid ounce as applied to liquids. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• 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 corporation, association, partnership, or one or more individuals. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• 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.
• Practitioner: means :

  (i)  A physician, osteopath, dentist, chiropodist, veterinarian, scientific investigator, or other person licensed, registered, or permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to or to administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02

• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Sell: includes sale, barter, gift, transfer, or delivery in any manner to another, or to offer or agree to do the same. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Synthetic drugs: means any synthetic cannabinoids or piperazines or any synthetic cathinones as provided for in schedule I. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• town council: include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
• Wholesaler: means a person who sells, vends, or distributes at wholesale, or as a jobber, broker agent, or distributor, or for resale in any manner in this state any controlled substance. See Rhode Island General Laws 21-28-1.02