THE LEGAL PROCESS

swift witness

See zealous witness.

[Last updated in October of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]

swindle

To swindle means to dispossess someone of money or property through fraud or deceit.

[Last updated in March of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]

tainted evidence

In a criminal trial, tainted evidence, also referred to as evidence of taint, is evidence that was acquired by illegal means. For example, if authorities gather evidence using a wiretap without a proper warrant, the evidence will be deemed...

taking of hostages

Hostage taking is when someone “seizes or detains and threatens to kill, to injure, or to continue to detain another person in order to compel a third person or a governmental organization to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or...

taking the Fifth

“Taking the Fifth" or “pleading the Fifth” are colloquial terms used to refer to an individual’s decision to invoke their right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. During questioning by...

tax auditor

A tax auditor is a financial professional who specializes in taxes and evaluates financial records to determine whether they comply with applicable laws and regulations. Tax auditors, applying accounting principles, examine companies,...

tax court

Tax court refers to the United States Tax Court (previously referred to as the U.S. Board of Tax Appeals and the Tax Court of the United States) which can hear challenges to tax decisions of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The tax court...

tax evasion

Tax evasion is the use of illegal means to avoid paying taxes. Typically, tax evasion schemes involve an individual or corporation misrepresenting their income to the Internal Revenue Service. Misrepresentation may take the form either of...

temporary insanity

In a criminal trial, temporary insanity is a defense that can be raised to assert that, at the time of the commission of the offense, the defendant, as a result of severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature or...

temporary receivership

Temporary receivership is a remedy in which the court appoints a person to temporarily manage a piece of property that is in the defendant's possession. This remedy is available only when the plaintiff is asserting an equity claim in which...

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