Appellate jurisdiction refers to the power of a court to hear appeals from lower courts.
Overview:Appellate jurisdiction includes the power to reverse or modify the lower court's decision. Appellate jurisdiction exists...
criminal procedure
appellate procedure
Appellate procedure consists of the rules and practices by which appellate courts review trial court judgments. Appellate review performs several functions, including correcting errors committed by a trial court, developing the law, and...
appellee
Appellee is the party against whom the appeal is filed and responds to and defends the appeal. The appellee is also referred to as the respondent. In contrast, the appellant is the party who appeals a lower court's judgment or order to a...
approach
Approach refers to moving toward the bench, a witness, or the jury box in court. An attorney may approach the bench in order to have a conversation with the judge and opposing counsel off the record and/or out of the jury's earshot. An...
approach the witness
Approach the witness refers to when an attorney moves towards a witness in order to show them a document or exhibit. See approach. In some jurisdictions, an attorney must request to approach a witness; e.g. "may I approach the witness?"...
argument
An argument is both the process of giving reasons for believing something is true as well as the term used to describe the reason(s) given.
An argument is also a disagreement between two or more persons, in which opposing...
Armed Career Criminal Act (1984)
The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) of 1984 imposes a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for anyone with at least 3 previous violent felony or serious drug offense convictions who illegally possesses a firearm. Like other “three strikes...
armed conflict
Armed conflicts are contextualized into two different categories: international armed conflicts and domestic armed conflicts. International armed conflicts occur when there is conflict between two or more states. Domestic armed conflicts...
arraignment
An arraignment is the first step in a criminal proceeding where the defendant is brought in front of the court to hear the charges against them and enter a plea.
See, e.g. County of Riverside v. McLaughlin 500 U.S. 44 (1991...
arrest
An arrest is the use of legal authority to deprive a person of their freedom of movement.
An arrest is generally made with an arrest warrant. An arrest may be made without a warrant if probable cause and exigent...