Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 47 > Chapter 3 > Article 13 - Regulation of Dangerous Animals

• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• bodily injury: means (1) broken bones, (2) lacerations, (3) punctures of the skin, or (4) any physical injury resulting in death. See South Carolina Code 47-3-710
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• dangerous animal: means an animal of the canine or feline family:
  
  (1) which the owner knows or reasonably should know has a propensity, tendency, or disposition to attack unprovoked, cause injury, or otherwise endanger the safety of human beings or domestic animals;
  
  (2) which:
  
  (a) makes an unprovoked attack that causes bodily injury to a human being and the attack occurs in a place other than the place where the animal is confined as required by § 47-3-720; or
  
  (b) commits unprovoked acts in a place other than the place where the animal is confined as required by § 47-3-720 and those acts cause a person to reasonably believe that the animal will attack and cause bodily injury to a human being;
  
  (3) which is owned or harbored primarily or in part for the purpose of fighting or which is trained for fighting. See South Carolina Code 47-3-710
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• owner: means a person who owns or has custody or control of the animal. See South Carolina Code 47-3-710
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• roadway: as used in this chapter shall refer to any such roadway separately but not to all such roadways collectively. See South Carolina Code 56-5-460
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.