Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 14 > Article 2A - Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes

• Allowable expense: includes the following:

  (1) Reasonable charges incurred or to be incurred for reasonably needed medical care, including products, services, and accommodations related to medical and psychological care, prosthetic devices, eye glasses, dentures, rehabilitation, and other remedial treatment and care but does not include that portion of a charge for a room in a hospital, clinic, convalescent home, nursing home, or other institution engaged in providing nursing care and related services which is in excess of a reasonable and customary charge for semiprivate accommodations unless accommodations other than semiprivate accommodations are medically required. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3

• 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.
• 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.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Claimant: means any of the following persons, whether residents or nonresidents of this state, who claim an award of compensation under this article:

  (1) A victim, except the term "victim" does not include a nonresident of this state where the criminally injurious act did not occur in this state. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3

• Collateral source: means a source of benefits or advantages for economic loss otherwise compensable that the victim or claimant has received or that is readily available to him or her from any of the following sources:

  (1) The offender, including restitution received from the offender pursuant to an order by a court sentencing the offender or placing him or her on probation following a conviction in a criminal case arising from the criminally injurious act for which a claim for compensation is made. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3

• 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.
• Contributory misconduct: means any conduct of the claimant or of the victim through whom the claimant claims an award that is unlawful or intentionally tortious and that, without regard to the conduct's proximity in time or space to the criminally injurious conduct, has a causal relationship to the criminally injurious conduct that is the basis of the claim and includes the voluntary intoxication of the claimant, either by the consumption of alcohol or the use of any controlled substance, when the intoxication has a causal connection or relationship to the injury sustained. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Criminally injurious conduct: means conduct that occurs or is attempted in this state, or in any state not having a victim compensation program, which poses a substantial threat of personal injury or death and is punishable by fine or imprisonment. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dependent: means an individual who received over half of his or her support from the victim. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
• Economic loss: means economic detriment consisting only of allowable expense, work loss, and replacement services loss. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
• En banc: In the bench or "full bench." Refers to court sessions with the entire membership of a court participating rather than the usual quorum. U.S. courts of appeals usually sit in panels of three judges, but may expand to a larger number in certain cases. They are then said to be sitting en banc.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Lost scholarship: means a scholarship, academic award, stipend, student loan, or other monetary scholastic assistance which had been awarded, conferred upon, or obtained by a victim in conjunction with a post-secondary school educational program and which the victim is unable to receive or use, in whole or in part, due to injuries received from criminally injurious conduct. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
• oath: shall be deemed to include an affirmation and the word "swear" or "sworn" to be complied with if the person referred to make solemn affirmation. See West Virginia Code 2-2-7
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• 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}
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Replacement services loss: means expenses reasonably incurred or to be incurred in obtaining ordinary and necessary services in lieu of those the injured person would have performed for the benefit of himself or herself or his or her family if he or she had not been injured. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• 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 the following:

  A person who suffers personal injury or death as a result of any one of the following:

  (A) Criminally injurious conduct. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3

• Work loss: includes loss of income from work by the parent or legal guardian of a minor victim who must miss work to take care of the minor victim. See West Virginia Code 14-2A-3