Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes > Chapter 586 > Part I - General Provisions

• 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.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• 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.
• Coercive control: includes a pattern of behavior that seeks to take away the individual's liberty or freedom and strip away the individual's sense of self, including bodily integrity and human rights, whereby the "coercive control" is designed to make an individual dependent by isolating them from support, exploiting them, depriving them of independence, and regulating their everyday behavior including:

  (1) Isolating the individual from friends and family;

  (2) Controlling how much money is accessible to the individual and how it is spent;

  (3) Monitoring the individual's activities, communications, and movements;

  (4) Name-calling, degradation, and demeaning the individual frequently;

  (5) Threatening to harm or kill the individual or a child or relative of the individual;

  (6) Threatening to publish information or make reports to the police or the authorities;

  (7) Damaging property or household goods; and

  (8) Forcing the individual to take part in criminal activity or child abuse. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 586-1

• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
• Dating relationship: means a romantic, courtship, or engagement relationship, often but not necessarily characterized by actions of an intimate or sexual nature, but does not include a casual acquaintanceship or ordinary fraternization between persons in a business or social context. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 586-1
• 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.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Domestic abuse: means :

  (1) Physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or the threat of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, or assault, extreme psychological abuse, coercive control, or malicious property damage between family or household members; or

  (2) Any act which would constitute an offense under section 709-906, or under part V or VI of chapter 707 committed against a minor family or household member by an adult family or household member. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 586-1

• 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.
• Extreme psychological abuse: means an intentional or knowing course of conduct directed at an individual that seriously alarms or disturbs consistently or continually bothers the individual, and that serves no legitimate purpose; provided that such course of conduct would cause a reasonable person to suffer extreme emotional distress. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 586-1
• 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.
• Malicious property damage: means an intentional or knowing damage to the property of another, without his consent, with an intent to thereby cause emotional distress. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 586-1
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• 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.