| admissibility | A legal criterion used to determine whether an item of evidence can be presented in court; requires that the evidence have relevance, materiality, and competence.
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| admission | A person's acknowledgment of certain facts or circumstances that tend to incriminate him or her with respect to a crime but are not complete enough to constitute a confession.
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| affirmation | The process in which a witness acknowledges that he or she understands and undertakes the obligation of an oath (i.e., to tell the truth with a realization of the penalties for perjury); a means of establishing a witness's competence.
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| burden of going forward | In a criminal trial, the responsibility of the defense to present enough evidence to create a reasonable doubt of guilt in the jurors' minds; an optional burden, as the defense is not required to present any evidence.
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| burden of proof | In a criminal trial, the requirement that the prosecution establish the defendant's guilt beyond, and to the exclusion of, every reasonable doubt.
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| confession | The acknowledgment by a person accused of a crime that he or she is guilty of that crime and committed every element of the offense; must exclude any reasonable doubt about the possibility of innocence.
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| cross-examination | In a trial, the questioning of a witness who was initially called by the opposing party.
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| direct examination | In a trial, the questioning of a witness by the party that calls the witness to testify.
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| evidence | Anything that tends logically to prove or disprove a fact at issue in a judicial case or controversy.
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| evidentiary privileges | Certain matters of communication that defendants and other witnesses can rightfully have barred from disclosure in court; classified as professional, political, social, and judicial.
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| expert witness | A person who is called to testify in court because of his or her special skills or knowledge; permitted to interpret facts and give opinions about their significance to facilitate jurors' understanding of complex or technical matters.
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| hearsay | Testimony by a witness that repeats something which he or she heard someone say out of court and which the witness has no personal factual knowledge of; inadmissible in court.
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| impeachment | In a trial, the process of discrediting or contradicting the testimony of a witness to show that he or she is unworthy of belief.
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| judicial notice | An evidentiary shortcut whereby the necessity of formally proving the truth of a particular matter is eliminated when that truth is not in dispute.
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| oath | A formal attestation in which a witness swears to tell the truth on the basis of his or her belief in a supreme being and acknowledges a realization of the penalties for perjury; a means of establishing a witness's competence.
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| peremptory challenge | The limited number of race and gender-neutral challenges each side has in a criminal case to excuse a juror for any other reason.
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| plaintiff | In a civil case, the party that was allegedly wronged and that files the lawsuit.
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| preponderance of evidence | The burden of proof in civil cases; requires only that the evidence presented by one side be seen by the jury as more believable than the evidence presented by the opposing side.
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| probable cause | A condition in which an officer has suspicion about an individual and knowledge of facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to believe that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be, committed.
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| proof | The combination of all the evidence in determining the guilt or innocence of a person accused of a crime.
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| rebuttal | In a trial, the optional process in which the prosecution, after the defense has closed its case, presents new evidence or calls or recalls a witness; it occurs at the discretion of the prosecution.
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| re-cross-examination | In a trial, the requestioning of a witness initially called by the opposing party.
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| redirect examination | In a trial, the requestioning of a witness by the party that called the witness.
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| subpoena | A written order commanding a particular person to appear in court at a specified date and time to testify as a witness.
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| surrebuttal | In a trial, the process in which the defense, after a rebuttal by the prosecution, presents new evidence or calls or recalls a witness; permitted only if the prosecution conducts a rebuttal.
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| testimony | Awitness's oral presentation of facts about which he or she has knowledge.
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| venire | The large panel of potential jurors from which a trial jury will be picked.
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| weight (of evidence) | The amount of believability a jury gives to the testimony of a witness or the presentation of an item of evidence.
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