Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 13 > Chapter 1 - General Provisions

• 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.
• 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.
• Blackmail: means the extortion of money, labor, commercial sexual activity, or anything of value from a person through use of a threat to expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, that would tend to subject the person to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or prosecution. See
• Coercion: means :

• Commercial sex act: means any sexual act, sexual conduct, or sexually explicit performance on account of which anything of value is promised to, given to, or received by any person. See
• 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.
• Debt bondage: means a condition or arrangement in which a person requires that a debtor or another person under the control of a debtor perform labor, services, sexual acts, sexual conduct, or a sexually explicit performance in order to retire, repay, or service a real or purported debt that the person has caused with the intent to defraud the debtor. See
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• 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.
• Family member: means a spouse, child, sibling, parent, next of kin, domestic partner, or legal guardian of a victim. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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.
• Human trafficking: means :

• 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.
• 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.
• Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• Labor servitude: means labor or services performed or provided by a person that are induced or maintained through force, fraud, or coercion. See
• 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: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Sexually explicit performance: means a public, live, photographed, recorded, or videotaped act or show that:

• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Venture: means any group of two or more individuals associated in fact, whether or not a legal entity. See
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Victim of human trafficking: means a victim of a violation of section 2652 of this title. See