A shotgun charge (also referred to as dynamite, nitroglycerin, third-degree or Allen charge) refers to jury instructions given by a court to a hung jury to encourage it to continue deliberating until it reaches a verdict. Since a mistrial...
criminal law and procedure
showup
A showup is a pretrial identification procedure where a witness is shown only the suspect and asked if that person was the perpetrator. This procedure has been criticized as subject to error.
Contrast with pretrial lineup...
solicitation
Solicitation generally refers to the act of requesting or seeking to obtain something from someone.
In criminal law, solicitation is the inchoate offense of offering money to someone with the specific intent of persuading...
specific denial
Specific denial is the defendant's denial of specific material facts asserted in the plaintiff's complaint; in other words, a denial of parts of an allegation in a complaint. A circumstance in which the defendant does not deny all of the...
specific intent
Specific intent is a legal term referring to the actual intent to perform some act along with a desire for the consequences that result from that act. It implies that an individual not only intended to perform the act but also aimed to...
Speedy Trial Act (1974)
The Speedy Trial Act of 1974, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3161 et seq., is a United States federal law that establishes time limits for completing various stages of a federal criminal prosecution. Its main purpose is to ensure that defendants are...
spousal immunity
Spousal immunity prohibits a prosecutor from forcing a defendant’s spouse to testify against them. This immunity is safeguarded by the Federal Rules of Evidence.
In a criminal case, the prosecution cannot compel the...
spousal privilege
Spousal privilege, also known as marital privilege and husband-wife privilege, includes two types of privileges: the spousal communications privilege and the spousal testimonial privilege.
The spousal communications...
state's attorney
State's attorney is an attorney elected or appointed by local government officials to represent the state in a criminal case brought in a judicial district or designated county.
The state's attorney is responsible for...
statement against interest
A statement against interest, or declaration against interest, is a statement that goes significantly against the declarant’s own interest which makes the statement credible and admissible in court. These statements are deemed to be credible...