Term bank from Reader notes

Facts that increase the penalty because they make the offense more serious in law.

The court stage where the accused is informed of the charge and enters a plea.

Firearm and ammunition traits that narrow a possible class, such as caliber, lands, grooves, and twist.

The first-responder discipline of securing, recording, collecting, and preserving evidence before it is changed.

Fingerprint identification work based on ridge patterns and minutiae.

The theory that criminal behavior is learned in intimate groups.

Facts that leave the act wrongful but excuse the actor, with civil liability generally surviving.

Microscopic marks that may link a firearm to a bullet or cartridge case when they correspond with test samples.

Correctional administration inside custodial facilities, including classification, security, and rehabilitation routines.

The flow from direction to collection, evaluation, analysis, and dissemination that turns information into usable direction.

Questioning that confronts a suspect within legal safeguards.

An information-gathering conversation with a witness or victim using open-ended questions to reduce contamination.

Facts that make the act lawful, so there is generally no crime, no criminal, and no civil liability.

The justice response for children in conflict with the law, centered on age, intervention, and lawful procedure.

A hidden fingerprint impression that must be developed, photographed, lifted, packaged, and documented.

Facts that reduce the penalty because they lessen the actor's blameworthiness without erasing liability.

Unlawful killing attended by a qualifying circumstance that changes the offense from homicide.

Conditional release from confinement under supervision after part of a sentence has been served.

Unlawful killing where the legally specified family relationship changes the classification of the offense.

The study of punishment, correctional goals, and the treatment of offenders.

A screening step that asks whether probable cause exists to charge, not whether guilt is proven.

The charging threshold used to decide whether a criminal case should proceed to court.

A community-based correctional measure that places an eligible offender under supervision instead of confinement.

The trial standard the prosecution must meet before guilt may be found.

Evidence with a logical connection to a fact in issue.

The view that weak social bonds can leave a person freer to deviate.

The view that blocked goals can push people toward deviant adaptation.

The study of victims, victimization, and how harm patterns inform prevention and response.