Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 12-25.1 - Criminal Royalties

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• 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.
• Alleged criminally responsible person: means a person who has been indicted or against whom a criminal information has been proferred for the commission of a felony committed within the state of Rhode Island which caused another person to suffer personal injury or loss of property, but who has not yet been either convicted or acquitted of the charge nor had the charge dismissed. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
• 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.
• Child: means an unmarried person who is under eighteen (18) years of age and includes a stepchild or an adopted child. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
• Commercial exploitation: means any significant commercial exploitation by means of any publication, reenactment, dramatization, interview, depiction, explanation, or expression through any medium of communication which is undertaken for financial consideration, except tangential and incidental references to a crime. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Convicted: as used in this chapter only, means a person who has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a charge of a felony offense, regardless of the fine, sentence or other punishment imposed or who has been found guilty after a trial on a charge of a felony offense. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
• 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.
• Court: means the superior court. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
• Criminally responsible person: means a person who has been convicted of a felony committed within the state of Rhode Island which caused another person to suffer personal injury or loss of property, or who has been adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity after a trial on a charge of the offense, or who has voluntarily admitted the commission of the offense. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: means a person wholly or partially dependent upon the income of the victim at the time of his or her death or would have been so dependent but for the incapacity due to the injury from which the death resulted, and includes a child of the victim born after the death of the victim. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• 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.
• 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.
• Pecuniary loss: includes :

  (i)  For personal injury:

  (A)  Medical expenses (including psychiatric care);

  (B)  Hospital expenses;

  (C)  Loss of past earnings; and

  (D)  Loss of future earnings because of a disability resulting from personal injury;

  (ii)  For death:

  (A)  Funeral and burial expenses; and

  (B)  Loss of support to the dependents of the victim; and

  (iii)  Any other expenses actually and necessarily incurred as a result of the personal injury or death. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2

• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Personal injury: means actual bodily harm, mental or nervous shock, or a pregnancy. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
• 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.
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Relative: means a spouse, parent, grandparent, stepfather, stepmother, child, grandchild, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, and a spouse's parents. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2
• 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.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Victim: means a person who suffers personal injury or loss of property as a direct result of the conduct of another person in perpetration of a criminal offense. See Rhode Island General Laws 12-25.1-2