Lawyer Dan - Terms you need to know

Terms you may hear:

Acquit

To find a defendant not guilty in a criminal trial.

Appeal

This is the process by which a case is brought from one court to a higher court for review. Not all questions before the trial court are before the appellate court. In addition, the appellate court is concerned mostly with whether the rulings of the trial court are correct.

Bail

A defendant may be released pending trial if they post money or property as a guarantee they will appear for trial.

Bench Warrant

A warrant for your arrest. What differentiates these warrants from others is the way they are served. Police will generally not hunt you down to serve these warrants. They are served if you happen across the path of a law enforcement officer, as in a traffic accident.

Concurrent

Going at the same time. If a defendant is sentenced to one year for ten counts of an offense, and the sentences run concurrently, the sentence has been served after one year.

Consecutive

Going one after another. In the same example as above, if the sentences are to run consecutively, they are not served after one year, but after ten years.

Deferred Sentence

This is a plea agreement in which the defendant pleads guilty, but the plea is not entered until a specified period of time passes. At that time, the Court looks to see if the defendant has complied with all the conditions of the deferred sentence. If so, the guilty plea is not entered and the case is dismissed.

Felony

This includes any crime so serious that the penalty can be death or a sentence to the Department of Corrections. Crimes are designated as felonies, misdemeanors or petty offenses by the state legislature. There are currently six classes of felonies in Colorado.

FTA

Failure to Appear in court at the time and date specified. When a judge is "stood up" they are not happy, and often issue a Bench Warrant for your arrest. See Bench Warrant.

FTC

Failure to Comply with requirements set by the court. Again, another good way to anger the court.

Jail

Run by counties, not the state. Most prisoners are convicted of misdemeanors. However, those convicted of felonies awaiting a court appearance and those awaiting trial for felonies are also housed in the jail.

Misdemeanor

Misdemeanors are less serious offense where the penalty is limited to a sentence in the County jail. Often fines or jail alternatives are invoked, so defendants are not kept in a jail. Jail time is normally served in whichever county where the crime occurred.

POE
Proof of enrollment. A paper showing you have enrolled in a program as required by the court.

POC

Proof of completion. A letter or other papers showing you have complied with the demands of the program, and have completed it.

Prison

Run by the Colorado Department of Corrections. Prison Inmates convicted of serious crimes, serving long sentences are housed there.

Pro se

When defendants represent themselves without the help of an attorney, they proceed pro se.

Providency Hearing

If a defendant wishes to enter a guilty plea (usually as a result of a plea bargain) the defendant speaks directly to the judge at this hearing. The plea is entered at this hearing and the judge is to ascertain that the defendant is fully aware of the rights the defendant is forfeiting by entering the guilty plea.

Probation

A period of time, imposed in lieu of a jail or prison sentence. During this time, the defendant is under behavioral constraints. In addition, the Court may require the defendant to meet certain conditions, such as counseling or community service. Probation is often supervised by the probation department or by a private supervisor.

Useful Public Service

Work for an approved service organization that is imposed as part of a sentence. Commonly referred to as community service.

Words that may be Confusing:

Innocent

The court does not find you innocent. The defendant does not have to prove he or she is innocent. The defendant needs to prove nothing. The prosecution needs to do the proving. They need to prove your guilt. Not only that, but the prosecution needs to prove you are guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. If the prosecution fails to prove you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, you are "not guilty".

Pressing Charges

"The company has dropped the charges against me."
"They're pressing charges."
"They're not pressing charges."

On TV and in the movies you may have heard this, but here on this little patch of earth, you will not hear such a thing from judges, attorneys, and law enforcement personnel. There is no pressing of charges.

As well, there is no "not pressing" of charges. In some instances the alleged victim cannot later help a defendant when there is a change of mind. The Colorado Legislature has passed restrictive statutes in these special instances. Those statutes require the District Attorney's help before a case can be amended or dismissed.

In domestic violence cases, the charges cannot be reduced to anything other than a domestic violence charge unless the prosecuting attorney tells the judge that the attorney cannot make even an initial case. It matters not what the alleged victim wants.

As well, in DUI cases, the charge cannot be reduced to a non-alcohol or non-drug related driving offense unless the prosecuting attorney tells the judge that the attorney cannot make even an initial case.

The initial, or prima facie, case standard is not high, and I have yet to see a Prosecutor tell the court that they could not make even that. So in those circumstances, "not pressing charges" matters very little.

FENAUGHTY & ASSOCIATES, PC

Daniel O. Fenaughty
Attorney at Law
320 South Cascade Avenue
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903

Email us

law@lawyerdan.com

Call us

719-277-6626

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Copyright © 2004 by Daniel O. Fenaughty. All rights reserved. You may reproduce materials available at this site for your own personal use and for non-commercial distribution. All copies must include this copyright statement.