Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes > Chapter 47 - State Property and Funds

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Aggrieved person: means a person who was a party to any intercepted wire communication, a person against whom the interception was directed, a person named in any order authorizing an interception, or a person having a property interest in any premises involved in any interception. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-41a
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• another: may extend and be applied to communities, companies, corporations, public or private, limited liability companies, societies and associations. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Application assistant: means a person authorized by the Secretary of the State to assist applicants in the completion of applications for program participation. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• assignment: means any specific written, recorded, pictorial, artistic or other academic task that is intended for submission to any university, college, academy, school or other educational institution which is chartered, incorporated, licensed, registered or supervised by this state, in fulfillment of the requirements of a degree, diploma, certificate or course of study at any such educational institution. See Connecticut General Statutes 53-392a
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
• Authorized personnel: means an employee in the office of the Secretary of the State who has been designated by the Secretary of the State, or an employee of an agency who has been designated by the chief executive officer of such agency, to process and have access to records pertaining to a program participant, including, but not limited to, voter registration applications, voting records and marriage records. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• 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.
• banks: shall include all incorporated banks. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Cell site simulator device: includes , but is not limited to, an international mobile subscriber identity catcher or other invasive cell phone or telephone surveillance or eavesdropping device that mimics a cell phone tower and sends out signals to cause cell phones in the area to transmit their locations, identifying information and communications content, or a passive interception device or digital analyzer that does not send signals to a communications device under surveillance. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-41a
• Certification card: means a card issued by the Secretary of the State pursuant to section 54-240d. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
• 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.
• Communication common carrier: means any person engaged as a common carrier for hire in the transmission of communications by wire or radio. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-41a
• communications company: means any person or organization which owns, controls, operates or manages any company which provides information or entertainment electronically to a household, including but not limited to a cable or community antenna television system. See Connecticut General Statutes 53-421
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Confidential address: means a program participant's address or addresses as listed on such participant's application for program participation that are not to be disclosed, including such participant's residential address in this state and work and school addresses in this state, if any. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Contents: when used with respect to any wire communication, means and includes any information concerning the identity of the parties to such communication or the existence, substance, purport or meaning of that communication. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-41a
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Court reporter: A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court and produces a transcript of the proceedings upon request.
• crime victim: means an individual who suffers direct or threatened physical, emotional or financial harm as a result of a crime and includes immediate family members of a minor, incompetent individual or homicide victim and a person designated by a homicide victim in accordance with section 1-56r. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1k
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dangerous instrument: means any instrument, article or substance which, under the circumstances in which it is used or attempted or threatened to be used, is capable of causing death or serious physical injury, and includes a "vehicle" as that term is defined in this section and includes a dog that has been commanded to attack, except a dog owned by a law enforcement agency of the state or any political subdivision thereof or of the federal government when such dog is in the performance of its duties under the direct supervision, care and control of an assigned law enforcement officer. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Deadly physical force: means physical force which can be reasonably expected to cause death or serious physical injury. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Deadly weapon: means any weapon, whether loaded or unloaded, from which a shot may be discharged, or a switchblade knife, gravity knife, billy, blackjack, bludgeon, or metal knuckles. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposit account: includes a share account of a savings and loan association. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Electronic defense weapon: means a weapon which by electronic impulse or current is capable of immobilizing a person temporarily, including a stun gun or other conductive energy device. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Employee of an emergency medical service organization: means an ambulance driver, emergency medical technician or paramedic as defined in section 19a-175. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• extortionate extension of credit: is a ny extension of credit with respect to which it is the understanding of the creditor and the debtor, at the time such extension of credit is made, that delay in making repayment or failure to make repayment could result in the use of violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the person, reputation or property of any person. See Connecticut General Statutes 53-389
• extortionate means: is a ny means which involves the use, or an express or implicit threat of use, of violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the person, reputation or property of any person. See Connecticut General Statutes 53-389
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• farm: includes farm buildings, and accessory buildings thereto, nurseries, orchards, ranges, greenhouses, hoophouses and other temporary structures or other structures used primarily for the raising and, as an incident to ordinary farming operations, the sale of agricultural or horticultural commodities. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• farming: include cultivation of the soil, dairying, forestry, raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including the raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training and management of livestock, including horses, bees, the production of honey, poultry, fur-bearing animals and wildlife, and the raising or harvesting of oysters, clams, mussels, other molluscan shellfish or fish. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Federal public defender: An attorney employed by the federal courts on a full-time basis to provide legal defense to defendants who are unable to afford counsel. The judiciary administers the federal defender program pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Firearm: means any sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, rifle, shotgun, pistol, revolver or other weapon, whether loaded or unloaded from which a shot may be discharged. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Firefighter: means any agent of a municipality whose duty it is to protect life and property therein as a member of a duly constituted fire department whether professional or volunteer. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Injury or risk of injury to a child: means any act or conduct that constitutes a violation of section 53-21. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• intellectual disability: means a significant limitation in intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior that originated during the developmental period before eighteen years of age. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1g
• Intercept: means the intentional overhearing or recording of a wire communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical or other device or a cell site simulator device. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-41a
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Investigative officer: means (A) any officer of the Connecticut state police, (B) the chief inspector or any inspector in the Division of Criminal Justice who is empowered by law to conduct investigations of or to make arrests for offenses enumerated in this chapter, (C) any municipal police officer who has been duly sworn as a special state police officer under the provisions of section 29-177 and who is currently assigned to the state-wide narcotics task force or the state-wide organized crime investigative task force and is acting under the direct authority of the Connecticut state police, and (D) any attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of offenses enumerated in this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-41a
• jail: means a correctional facility administered by the Commissioner of Correction. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• 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.
• Kidnapping: means any act that constitutes a violation of section 53a-92, 53a-92a, 53a-94 or 53a-94a. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Law enforcement agency: means the office of the Attorney General, the office of the Chief State's Attorney, the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or any municipal police department. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Law enforcement officer: means any officer of any organized police department of this state or of the state police of any other state, an official of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration or United States Customs Service, or the United States attorney for the district of Connecticut or a person designated by him in writing to receive the contents of any wire communication or evidence derived therefrom. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-41a
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• legislative body: means : (1) As applied to unconsolidated towns, the town meeting. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Machine gun: means a weapon of any description, irrespective of size, by whatever name known, loaded or unloaded, from which a number of shots or bullets may be rapidly or automatically discharged from a magazine with one continuous pull of the trigger and includes a submachine gun. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• Marriage records: means an application for a marriage license, an issued marriage license, a license certificate or other documents related thereto. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mistrial: An invalid trial, caused by fundamental error. When a mistrial is declared, the trial must start again from the selection of the jury.
• month: means a calendar month, and the word "year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• 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.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: shall include affirmations in cases where by law an affirmation may be used for an oath, and, in like cases, the word "swear" shall include the word "affirm". See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• 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.
• Ordinance: means an enactment under the provisions of section 7-157. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• panel: means any panel or panels of three Superior Court judges specifically designated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from time to time to receive applications for, and to enter orders authorizing, interceptions of wire communications in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-41a
• participant: means any person certified by the Secretary of the State to participate in the address confidentiality program. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Peace officer: means a member of the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or an organized local police department, a chief inspector or inspector in the Division of Criminal Justice, a state marshal while exercising authority granted under any provision of the general statutes, a judicial marshal in the performance of the duties of a judicial marshal, a conservation officer or special conservation officer, as defined in section 26-5, a constable who performs criminal law enforcement duties, a special policeman appointed under section 29-18, 29-18a, 29-18b or 29-19, an adult probation officer, an official of the Department of Correction authorized by the Commissioner of Correction to make arrests in a correctional institution or facility, any investigator in the investigations unit of the office of the State Treasurer, an inspector of motor vehicles in the Department of Motor Vehicles, who is certified under the provisions of sections 7-294a to 7-294e, inclusive, a United States marshal or deputy marshal, any special agent of the federal government authorized to enforce the provisions of Title 21 of the United States Code, or a member of a law enforcement unit of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe or the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut created and governed by a memorandum of agreement under section 47-65c who is certified as a police officer by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council pursuant to sections 7-294a to 7-294e, inclusive. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Person: means a human being, and, where appropriate, a public or private corporation, a limited liability company, an unincorporated association, a partnership, a government or a governmental instrumentality. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company or association. See Connecticut General Statutes 53-392a
• Person: means any officer, agent or employee of the state of Connecticut or any political subdivision thereof, and any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, limited liability company or corporation. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-41a
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physical injury: means impairment of physical condition or pain. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. ^Source:
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Possess: means to have physical possession or otherwise to exercise dominion or control over tangible property. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• 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.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• prepare: means to create, write or in any way produce in whole or substantial part a term paper, thesis, dissertation, essay, report or other written, recorded, pictorial, artistic or other assignment for a fee. See Connecticut General Statutes 53-392a
• Presentence report: A report prepared by a court's probation officer, after a person has been convicted of an offense, summarizing for the court the background information needed to determine the appropriate sentence. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Probation officers: Screen applicants for pretrial release and monitor convicted offenders released under court supervision.
• program: means the program established pursuant to this chapter. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Program address: means the post office box number and fictitious street address assigned to a program participant by the Secretary of the State. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• railroad company: shall be construed to mean and include all corporations, trustees, receivers or other persons, that lay out, construct, maintain or operate a railroad, unless such meaning would be repugnant to the context or to the manifest intention of the General Assembly. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Railroad property: means all tangible property owned, leased or operated by a railroad carrier including, but not limited to, a right-of-way, track, roadbed, bridge, yard, shop, station, tunnel, viaduct, trestle, depot, warehouse, terminal or any other structure or appurtenance or equipment owned, leased or used in the operation of a railroad carrier including a train, locomotive, engine, railroad car, signals or safety device or work equipment or rolling stock. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• revolver: means any firearm having a barrel less than twelve inches. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Rifle: means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Serious firearm offender: means a person who has (A) two convictions for a serious firearm offense, (B) a conviction for a serious firearm offense and was previously convicted of a violation of section 29-36, 29-36a, subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 53a-217 or subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 53a-217c, or (C) a conviction for a serious firearm offense and was previously convicted of two or more additional felony offenses. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Serious firearm offense: means a violation of section 29-36, 29-36a or 53-202w, possession of a stolen firearm or a firearm that is altered in a manner that renders the firearm unlawful, or any crime of which an essential element is that the person discharged, used or was armed with and threatened the use of a firearm. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Serious physical injury: means physical injury which creates a substantial risk of death, or which causes serious disfigurement, serious impairment of health or serious loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Sexual assault: means any act that constitutes a violation of section 53a-70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2019, or section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-72a, 53a-72b or 53a-73a. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Shotgun: means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Sole ownership: The type of property ownership in which one individual holds legal title to the property and has full control of it.
• Stalking: means any act that constitutes a violation of section 53a-181c, 53a-181d or 53a-181e. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• succeeding: when used by way of reference to any section or sections, mean the section or sections next preceding, next following or next succeeding, unless some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trafficking in persons: means any act that constitutes a violation of section 53a-192a. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-240
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• Vehicle: means a "motor vehicle" as defined in section 14-1, a snowmobile, any aircraft, or any vessel equipped for propulsion by mechanical means or sail. See Connecticut General Statutes 53a-3
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Victim advocate: work with prosecutors and assist the victims of a crime.
• Victim Impact Statement: A written or spoken statement by the victim or his or her representative about the physical, emotional, and financial impact of a crime on the victim. The statement is given to the court before sentencing.
• Voters: means those persons qualified to vote under the provisions of section 7-6. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
• Wire communication: means any communication made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of telephone or telegraph between the point of origin and the point of reception furnished or operated by any person engaged as a common carrier in providing or operating such facilities for the transmission of intrastate, interstate or foreign communications. See Connecticut General Statutes 54-41a
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.