Terms Used In Missouri Laws > Chapter 570 - Robbery, Stealing and Related Offenses

• Adulterated: varying from the standard of composition or quality prescribed by statute or lawfully promulgated administrative regulations of this state lawfully filed, or if none, as set by commercial usage. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriate: to take, obtain, use, transfer, conceal, retain or dispose. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• 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
• 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.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Check: a check or other similar sight order or any other form of presentment involving the transmission of account information for the payment of money. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Coercion: a threat, however communicated:

  (a) To commit any offense. See Missouri Laws 570.010

• 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.
• 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.
• Credit bureau: An agency that collects individual credit information and sells it for a fee to creditors so they can make a decision on granting loans. Typical clients include banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and other financing companies. (Also commonly referred to as consumer-reporting agency or credit-reporting agency.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit device: a writing, card, code, number or other device purporting to evidence an undertaking to pay for property or services delivered or rendered to or upon the order of a designated person or bearer. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Debit device: a writing, card, code, number or other device, other than a check, draft or similar paper instrument, by the use of which a person may initiate an electronic fund transfer, including but not limited to devices that enable electronic transfers of benefits to public assistance recipients. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• 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.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Financial institution: a bank, trust company, savings and loan association, or credit union. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Food stamps: the nutrition assistance program in Missouri that provides food and aid to low-income individuals who are in need of benefits to purchase food operated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in conjunction with the department of social services. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Forcibly steals: a person, in the course of stealing, uses or threatens the immediate use of physical force upon another person for the purpose of:

  (a) Preventing or overcoming resistance to the taking of the property or to the retention thereof immediately after the taking. See Missouri Laws 570.010

• 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.
• 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,
• Guardianship: if used in a section in a context relating to rights and obligations other than property rights or obligations, means guardian of the person as defined in chapter 475. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• 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}
• Internet service: an interactive computer service or system or an information service, system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, and includes, but is not limited to, an information service, system, or access software provider that provides access to a network system commonly known as the internet, or any comparable system or service and also includes, but is not limited to, a world wide web page, newsgroup, message board, mailing list, or chat area on any interactive computer service or system or other online service. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• 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.
• Kiting: Writing a check in an amount that will overdraw the account but making up the deficiency by depositing another check on another bank. For example, mailing a check for the mortgage when your checking account has insufficient funds to cover the check, but counting on receiving and depositing your paycheck before the mortgage company presents the check for payment. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Means of identification: anything used by a person as a means to uniquely distinguish himself or herself. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Merchant: a person who deals in goods of the kind or otherwise by his or her occupation holds oneself out as having knowledge or skill peculiar to the practices or goods involved in the transaction or to whom such knowledge or skill may be attributed by his or her employment of an agent or broker or other intermediary who by his or her occupation holds oneself out as having such knowledge or skill. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Mislabeled: varying from the standard of truth or disclosure in labeling prescribed by statute or lawfully promulgated administrative regulations of this state lawfully filed, or if none, as set by commercial usage. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• 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.
• 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.
• person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidences of debt. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Pharmacy: any building, warehouse, physician's office, hospital, pharmaceutical house or other structure used in whole or in part for the sale, storage, or dispensing of any controlled substance as defined in chapter 195. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Place of residence: means the place where the family of any person permanently resides in this state, and the place where any person having no family generally lodges. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• 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.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Property: anything of value, whether real or personal, tangible or intangible, in possession or in action, and shall include but not be limited to the evidence of a debt actually executed but not delivered or issued as a valid instrument. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Public assistance benefits: anything of value, including money, food, EBT cards, food stamps, commodities, clothing, utilities, utilities payments, shelter, drugs and medicine, materials, goods, and any service including institutional care, medical care, dental care, child care, psychiatric and psychological service, rehabilitation instruction, training, transitional assistance, or counseling, received by or paid on behalf of any person under Missouri Laws 570.010
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Right of offset: Banks' legal right to seize funds that a guarantor or debtor may have on deposit to cover a loan in default. It is also known as the right of set-off. ^{Source: OCC}
• Services: includes transportation, telephone, electricity, gas, water, or other public service, cable television service, video service, voice over internet protocol service, or internet service, accommodation in hotels, restaurants or elsewhere, admission to exhibitions and use of vehicles. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Stealing-related offense: federal and state violations of criminal statutes against stealing, robbery, or buying or receiving stolen property and shall also include municipal ordinances against the same if the offender was either represented by counsel or knowingly waived counsel in writing and the judge accepting the plea or making the findings was a licensed attorney at the time of the court proceedings. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Teller machine: an automated teller machine (ATM) or interactive teller machine (ITM) is a remote computer terminal owned or controlled by a financial institution or a private business that allows individuals to obtain financial services including obtaining cash, transferring or transmitting money or digital currencies, payment of bills, or loading money or digital currency to a payment card or other device without physical in-person assistance from another person. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Video service: the provision of video programming provided through wireline facilities located at least in part in the public right-of-way without regard to delivery technology, including internet protocol technology whether provided as part of a tier, on demand, or a per-channel basis. See Missouri Laws 570.010
• Voice over internet protocol service: a service that:

  (a) Enables real-time, two-way voice communication. See Missouri Laws 570.010

• Writing: includes printing, any other method of recording information, money, coins, negotiable instruments, tokens, stamps, seals, credit cards, badges, trademarks and any other symbols of value, right, privilege or identification. See Missouri Laws 570.010