Court rules relate to the procedures or regulations that govern court proceedings. Courts of general jurisdiction have the power to hear claims as long as there is a controversy among parties with diverse interests and conflicting...
judicial administration
court rules
Overview:
court trial
A court trial, or a bench trial, refers to the type of trial that does not involve a jury but is conducted by the judge alone, in which the judge both decides the facts of the case and applies the law.
Compare: jury trial....
court witness
A court witness is an individual called to testify or provide evidence in a trial.
Court witnesses usually possess knowledge or proof that is relevant to the facts of a suit, and they convey their relevant knowledge as lay...
criminal calendar
Criminal calendar is a list of all the criminal cases to be heard in a courtroom on a particular day. "To calendar" means to give a day, time, and courtroom to a case. The parties charged and their attorneys are given a written notice of the...
D.A.
D.A. is the abbreviation for district attorney. See the district attorney definition for more information.
[Last updated in June of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]
defective verdict
A defective verdict is a verdict flawed to such extent that a judgment cannot be based on it. There are several instances that might occur to render a verdict defective. For example, a verdict may be defective because of procedural...
dilatory tactics
Dilatory tactics are when a party to a lawsuit abuses the rules of procedure in order to delay the progress of legal proceedings.
For example, a party to a lawsuit will delay the legal process by filing a motion, which the...
diminished capacity
"Diminished capacity," as opposed to "not guilty by reason of insanity."
Diminished capacity is a theory that a person due to unique factors could not meet the mental state required for a specific intent crime. A diminished...
directed verdict
A directed verdict is a ruling entered by a trial judge after determining that there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to reach a different conclusion.
The trial court may grant a directed...
discovery
In civil actions, the discovery process refers to what parties use during pre-trial to gather information in preparation for trial.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have very liberal discovery provisions. Before the...