Terms Used In Maryland Code > PUBLIC SAFETY > Title 13A > Subtitle 6 - Pre-Trial Procedure

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Convening authority: includes :
  
  (1) the person who convened the court; and
  
  (2) (i) a commissioned officer commanding for the time being; or
  
  (ii) a successor in command to the convening authority. See
• Day: means :
  
  (1) calendar day and is not synonymous with the term "unit training assembly. See
• 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.
• 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.
• including: means includes or including by way of illustration and not by way of limitation. See
• Judge advocate: means a commissioned officer of the organized state military forces who is a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a state:
  
  (1) (i) certified or designated as a judge advocate in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the Army, Air Force, Navy, or the Marine Corps or designated as a law specialist as an officer of the Coast Guard, or a reserve component of one of these; or
  
  (ii) certified as a non-federally recognized judge advocate, under regulations adopted pursuant to this provision, by the senior judge advocate of the commander of the force in the state military forces of which the accused is a member, as competent to perform such military justice duties required by this code; or
  
  (2) if no judge advocate certified under item (1) of this subsection is available, certified by a senior judge advocate of the commander of another force in the state military forces, as the convening authority directs. See
• 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.
• Military court: means :
  
  (1) a court-martial; or
  
  (2) a court of inquiry. See
• Military judge: means an official of a general or special court-martial detailed in accordance with § 13A-505 of this title. See
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Officer: means a commissioned or warrant officer. See
• Person: includes an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, representative of any kind, corporation, partnership, business trust, statutory trust, limited liability company, firm, association, or other nongovernmental entity. See
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• state: means :
  
  (1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or
  
  (2) the District of Columbia. See
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• 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.