More Criminal Terms Defined
Jailhouse Lawyer - A prison inmate who gives legal advise to other inmates.
Judicial Notice - When a criminal court accepts a well-known and indisputable fact without requiring the lawyer to prove it. (The trial court took judicial notice of the fact that government offices are closed on Christmas)
Jurisdiction - A court's power to decide a case or issue a decree. (Criminal Circuit Court has jurisdiction over felony criminal cases)
Juris Doctor - Also known as J.D. It means Doctor of law and is the law degree given by American law schools.
Jury - A group of people selected according to law and they are given the power to decide questions of fact and return a verdict in the case submitted to them.
Jury Instruction - A guideline that a judge gives a jury concerning the law of the case.
Jury Nullification - A jury's intentional rejection of the evidence or refusal to apply the law. Juries do this because they want to send a message about some social issue that is bigger than the case itself or because the result dictated by the law is somehow unjust.
Juvenile Delinquent - A child (minor) who is guilty of criminal charges and is punished by special juvenile laws that do not apply to adults.
