Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 13 > Chapter 167 - Crime Victims

• Access: means to instruct, communicate with, store data in, enter data in, retrieve data from, or otherwise make use of any resources of a computer, computer system, or computer network. See
• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Address: means the actual location of the sex offender's dwelling, including the street address, if any. See
• Affected person: means any of the following persons who has requested notification in writing from the court or the Department of Corrections:

• 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.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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.
• Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
• 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.
• 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.
• Board: means the Victims Compensation Board established under this chapter. See
• Business: includes every trade, occupation, and profession. See
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Computer: means an electronic device which performs logical, arithmetic, and memory functions by the manipulations of electronic, photonic or magnetic impulses, and includes all input, output, processing, storage, software, or communications facilities which are connected or related to such a device in a system or network, including devices available to the public for limited or designated use or other devices used to access or connect to such a system or network. See
• Computer network: means the interconnection of remote user terminals with a computer through communications lines, or a complex consisting of two or more interconnected computers. See
• Computer program: means a series of instructions or statements or related data that, in actual or modified form, is capable of causing a computer or a computer system to perform specified functions in a form acceptable to a computer, that permits the functioning of a computer system in a manner designed to provide appropriate products from such computer system. See
• Computer software: means a set of computer programs, procedures, and associated documentation concerned with the operation of a computer system. See
• Computer system: means a set of connected computer equipment, devices and software. See
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Conviction: means a judgment of guilt following a verdict or finding of guilt, a plea of guilty, a plea of nolo contendere, an Alford Plea, or a judgment of guilt pursuant to a deferred sentence. See
• 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}
• Crime: includes delinquent acts and an act of terrorism, as defined in 18 U. See
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Data: means any representation of information, knowledge, facts, concepts, or instructions that are being prepared or have been prepared and are intended to be entered, processed, or stored, are being entered, processed, or stored, or have been entered, processed, or stored in a computer, computer system, or computer network. See
• DBH: means the diameter of a standing tree at four and one-half feet from the ground. See
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Public Safety. See
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dependent: means the victim's spouse, domestic partner, or a person who is legally dependent for support upon a victim. See
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Disposition: means the sentencing or determination of penalty or punishment to be imposed upon a person convicted of a crime or against whom a finding of sufficient facts for conviction is made. See
• Distribution: means a transfer of money or other property from a partnership to a partner in the partner's capacity as a partner or to the partner's transferee. 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
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Forest products: means logs, pulpwood, veneer, bolt wood, wood chips, stud wood, poles, pilings, biomass, fuel wood, or bark. See
• 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.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• 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.
• Harvest: means the cutting, felling, or removal of timber. See
• Harvest unit: means the area of land from which timber will be harvested or the area of land on which timber stand improvement will occur. See
• High-risk: means a high degree of dangerousness that a sex offender poses to others. See
• 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.
• Injury: means actual bodily harm or pregnancy, or emotional harm resulting from the crime. 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.
• 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
• Landowner: means the person, firm, company, corporation, or other legal entity that owns or controls the land or owns or controls the right to harvest timber on the land. See
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Listed crime: means any of the following offenses:

• Local law enforcement agency: means the municipal police department or statutorily established college or university police department. See
• Mental abnormality: means a congenital or acquired condition that affects the emotional or volitional capacity of a person in a manner that predisposes the person to the commission of criminal sexual acts to a degree that makes the person a menace to the health and safety of other persons. See
• Minor: means a person under the age of 18 years. See
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• 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.
• 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.
• Partnership: means an association of two or more persons to carry on as co-owners a business for profit formed under section 3212 of this title, predecessor law, or comparable law of another jurisdiction and includes for all purposes of the laws of this State a limited liability partnership. See
• Pecuniary loss: means , in the case of a victim, the amount of medical or medically related expenses, loss of wages, and any other expenses that the Board feels became necessary as a direct result of the crime. See
• Person: means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See
• 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
• Personality disorder: means a condition where a person exhibits personality traits that are inflexible and maladaptive and cause either significant functional impairment or subjective distress. See
• 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.
• Predatory: means an act directed at a stranger, or a person with whom a relationship has been established or promoted for the primary purpose of victimization. See
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Profits from crimes: means :

• Property: includes electronically produced data, and computer software and programs in either machine or human readable form, and any other tangible or intangible item of value. See
• Registry: means the Sex Offender Registry maintained by the Department of Public Safety. See
• Release: means release from a correctional facility to furlough or to probation or parole supervision, release from a correctional facility upon expiration of sentence or release from a correctional facility on bail after the defendant's initial appearance. See
• Release: means release from confinement or custody or placement into the community for any reason, including release on bail pending appeal, probation, parole, furlough, work release, early release, alternative sanctions, house arrest, daily interrupt, community placement, or completion of sentence. See
• 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.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Restitution: means money or services that a court orders a defendant to pay or render to a victim as a part of the disposition. See
• Risk: means the degree of dangerousness that a sex offender poses to others. See
• SANE: means a sexual assault nurse examiner. See
• Services: includes computer time, data processing, and storage functions. See
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Sex offender: means :

• Sexually violent offense: means sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault, as described in sections 3252 and 3253 of this title, or a comparable offense in another jurisdiction of the United States, or any attempt to commit sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, or a comparable offense in another jurisdiction of the United States. See
• Sexually violent predator: means a person who is a sex offender, who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense, as defined in subdivision (11) of this section, and who suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses. See
• 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
• Statement: means a statement of partnership authority under section 3223 of this title, a statement of denial under section 3224 of this title, a statement of dissociation under section 3264 of this title, a statement of dissolution under section 3275 of this title, a statement of merger under section 3287 of this title, a statement of qualification under section 3291 of this title, a statement of foreign qualification under section 3302 of this title; or an amendment or cancellation of any of the foregoing. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Student: means a person who is enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis in any public or private educational institution in Vermont, including any secondary school, trade or professional institution, or institution of higher learning. See
• Stump diameter: means the diameter of a tree stump remaining after cutting, felling, or destruction. See
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Timber: means :

• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Victim: means a person who sustains physical, emotional, or financial injury or death as a direct result of the commission or attempted commission of a crime or act of delinquency and shall also include the family members of a minor, a person who has been found to be incompetent, or a homicide victim. See
• Victim: means :

• Victim advocate: work with prosecutors and assist the victims of a crime.