Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 62 > Article 1D - Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act

• Aggrieved person: means a person who was a party to any intercepted wire, oral or electronic communication or a person against whom the interception was directed. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Aural transfer: means a transfer containing the human voice at any point between and including the point of origin and the point of reception. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Child care center: means a facility maintained by the state or any county or municipality thereof, or any agency or facility maintained by an individual, firm, corporation, association or organization, public or private, that is licensed by Department of Health and Human Resources for the care of children in any setting. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Communications common carrier: means any telegraph company or telephone company and any radio common carrier. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Contents: when used with respect to any wire, oral or electronic communication, includes any information concerning the substance, purport or meaning of that communication. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Designated judge: means a circuit court judge designated by the Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to hear and rule on applications for the interception of wire, oral or electronic communications. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Electronic communication: means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electro-magnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical system but does not include:

  (1) The radio portion of a cordless telephone communication that is transmitted between the cordless telephone handset and the base unit. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2

• Electronic communication service: means any service which provides to users thereof the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• 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.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Intercept: means the aural or other acquisition of the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical or other device. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Investigative or law-enforcement officer: means a member or members of the West Virginia State Police who is or are empowered by law to conduct investigations of or to make arrest for offenses enumerated in this chapter. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• 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.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• 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.
• Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Oral communication: means any oral communication uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that the communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying the expectation. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• 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.
• Pen register: means a device which records or decodes electronic or other impulses which identify the numbers dialed or otherwise transmitted on the telephone line to which the device is attached, but the term does not include any device used by a provider or customer of a wire or electronic communication service for billing, or recording as an incident to billing, for communications services provided by the provider or any device used by a provider or customer of a wire communication service for cost accounting or other like purposes in the ordinary course of its business. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Person: means any person, individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust or corporation and includes any police officer, employee or agent of this state or of a political subdivision thereof. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trap and trace device: means a device which captures the incoming electronic or other impulses which identify the originating number of an instrument or device from which a wire or electronic communication was transmitted. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• User: means any person or entity who or which uses an electronic communication service and is duly authorized by the provider of the service to engage in the use. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2
• Wire communication: means any aural transfer made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable or other like connection between the point of origin and the point of reception (including the use of the connection in a switching station) furnished or operated by any person engaged in providing or operating the facilities for the transmission of interstate or foreign communications or communications affecting interstate or foreign commerce and the term includes any electronic storage of the communication, but the term does not include the radio portion of a cordless telephone communication that is transmitted between the cordless telephone handset and the base unit. See West Virginia Code 62-1D-2