second offense
An offense committed after conviction for a first offense. • The previous conviction, not the indictment, forms the basis of the charge of a second offense.
Search Results for: second offense
graded offense
A crime that is divided into various degrees of severity with corresponding levels of punishment, such as murder (first-degree and second-degree) or assault (simple and aggravated). See DEGREE(2). [Cases: Criminal Law 28. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 9, 13.]
legally inconsistent verdict
A verdict in which the same element is found to exist and not to exist, as when a defendant is acquitted of one offense and convicted of another, even though the offenses arise from the same set of facts and an element of the second offense requires proof that the first offense has been committed.
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court of high commission
Court of High Commission. Hist. Eccles. law. A tribunal responsible for inquiring into religious offenses such as the holding of heretical opinions, and absence from church. • Functioning as a court, the High Commission also prosecuted violations of the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity (1559), the statutes that gave the Crown supreme power over the
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duel
duel. 1. TRIAL BY COMBAT. 2. A single combat; specif., a prearranged combat with deadly weapons fought between two or more persons under prescribed rules, usu. in the presence of at least two witnesses, to resolve a previous quarrel or avenge a deed. • In England and the United States, death resulting from a duel
criminal infringement
The statutory criminal offense of either (1) willfully infringing a copyright to obtain a commercial advantage or financial gain (17 USCA § 506; 18 USCA § 2319), or (2) trafficking in goods or services that bear a counterfeit mark (18 USCA § 2320). • Under the second category, the law imposes criminal penalties if the
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dueling
dueling, n. The common-law offense of fighting at an appointed time and place after an earlier disagreement. • If one of the participants is killed, the other is guilty of murder, and all who are present, abetting the crime, are guilty as principals in the second degree. [Cases: Criminal Law 45.30. C.J.S. Dueling §§ 2–3.]
sweinmote
sweinmote (swayn-moht). Hist. A forest court held three times a year, before verderors as judges and freeholders of the forest as jurors, to try forest offenses. — Also spelled swainmote; swanimote; swainemote; swaingemote. “The court of sweinmote is to be holden before the verderors, as judges, by the steward of the sweinmote thrice in every
double jeopardy clause
Double Jeopardy Clause. The Fifth Amendment provision stating, “nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” • The clause, which was ratified in 1791, does not prevent postacquittal appeals by the government if those appeals could not result in the defendant’s being subjected
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accomplice
accomplice ([schwa]-kom-plis). 1. A person who is in any way involved with another in the commission of a crime, whether as a principal in the first or second degree or as an accessory. • Although the definition includes an accessory before the fact, not all authorities treat this term as including an accessory after the