Employee Background Verfication

A A1 B C C1 D E F G H I J K L M N O P P1 Q R S S1 T U V W X Y Z

C

Commutation: The reduction of a sentence, as from death to life imprisonment. Companion cases or codefendants: More than one person arrested on the same criminal incident.

Comparative Negligence: A legal doctrine by which acts of the opposing parties are compared to determine the liability of each party to the other, making each liable only for his/her percentage of fault. See also contributory negligence.

Complainant: The party who complains or sues; one who applies to the court for legal redress. Also called the plaintiff.

Complaint: The legal document that usually begins a civil lawsuit. It states the alleged facts and identifies the action the court is asked to take and Formal written charge that a person has committed a criminal offense.

Conciliation: A form of alternative dispute resolution in which the parties bring their dispute to a neutral third party, who helps lower tensions, improve communications, and explore possible solutions. Conciliation is similar to mediation, but it may be less formal.

Concurrent sentences: Sentences for more than one crime that are to be served at the same time, rather than one after the other.

Condemnation: The legal process by which the government takes private land for a public use, paying the owners a fair price as determined by the court.

Conflict attorney: One of a pool of attorneys appointed on rotation when a codefendant has the Public Defender.

Consecutive sentences: Successive sentences, one beginning at the expiration of another, imposed against a person convicted of two or more violations.

Conservatorship: Legal right given to a person to manage the property and financial affairs of a person deemed incapable of doing that for himself/herself. (See also guardianship. Conservators have somewhat less responsibility than guardiuans.)

Contempt of court: An act of disrespect to the court, willful disregard of the court's authority.

Continuance: Deferring a trial or hearing to a later date.

Contract: A legally enforceable agreement between two or more competent parties made either orally or in writing.

Contributory Negligence: A legal doctrine that says if the plaintiff in a civil action for negligence also was negligent, he/she cannot recover damages from the defendant for the defendant's negligence. Most jurisdictions have abandoned the doctrine of contributory neegligence in favor of comparative negligence.

Conviction: A judgment of guilt against a criminal defendant.

Corpus delicti: Body of the crime. The objective proof that a crime has been committed. It sometimes refers to the body of the victim of a homicide or to the charred shell of a burned house, but the term has a broader meaning. For the state to introduce a confession or to convict the accused, it must prove a corpus delicti, that is, the occurrence of a specific injury or loss and a criminal act as the source of that particular injury or loss.

Corroborating Evidence: Supplementary evidence that tends to strengthen or confirm the initial evidence.

Counsel: Legal adviser; a term used to refer to lawyers in a case.

Counterclaim: A claim made by the defendant in a civil lawsuit against the plaintiff. In essence, a counter lawsuit within a lawsuit.

Court: Government entity authorized to resolve legal disputes. Judges sometimes use "court" to refer to themselves in the third person, as in "the court has read the brief."

Court Administrtator/Clerk of Court: An officer appointed by the court or elected to oversee the administrative, nonjudicial activities of the court.

Court costs: The expenses of prosecuting or defending a lawsuit, other than the attorneys' fees. An amount of money may be awarded to the successful party (and may be recoverable from the losing party) as reimbursement for court cost.

Court Date Notice: A written form (usually mailed) that is used to bring the required person to court.

Court recorder: A deputy clerk who maintains the verbatim record of court proceedings on tape.

Court reporter: A privately employed court person who maintains the verbatim record of court proceedings.

Cross-Claim: A claim by codefendants or coplaintiffs against each other and not against persons on the opposite side of the lawsuit.

Cross-Examination: The questioning of a witness produced by the other side.

Cumulative Sentences: Sentences for two or more crimes to run consecutively, rather than concurrently.

Custody: Detaining of a person by lawful process or authority to assure his/her appearance to any hearing; the jailing or imprisonment of a person convicted of a crime.

A A1 B C C1 D E F G H I J K L M N O P P1 Q R S S1 T U V W X Y Z