caseline.

Glossary

The legal words in our cases, in plain English. Courts in Canada and the United States use different words for similar things. Each term says where it applies.

Agreed statement of facts
A written account of what happened that both the Crown and the defence accept, read in court at a plea or sentencing. It's often narrower than what the Crown alleged at trial.
Used inJennifer Pan
Air of realityCanada
The test a judge uses to decide whether there's enough evidence to let the jury consider a defence or a verdict. If a reasonable jury could accept it, the judge has to leave it with them.
Used inJennifer Pan
AppealUnited States
Asking a higher court to review a lower court's decision for legal mistakes. The higher court does not hold a new trial; it reads briefs and may hear arguments, then affirms, reverses, or sends the case back.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Attempted murder
Trying to kill someone, with the intent to kill, even though the person survives. In Canada the maximum sentence is life in prison.
Used inJennifer Pan
Autopsy
A medical examination of a body after death to learn what caused it. Some results, like lab tests, can take weeks.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Cause of death
The specific injury or illness that led to a death. It is different from the manner of death, which is the broader category.
Used inGabrielle Petito
CitationUnited States
A written notice from an officer that charges someone with an offense and tells them to appear in court, without taking them to jail. When the Moab review talks about the failure to cite, it means officers did not issue one.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Civil caseUnited States
A lawsuit between private parties, usually about money, where nobody goes to jail. A criminal case is brought by the government and can lead to prison; the two are separate, and a civil case can go on even when there is no criminal one.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Co-accused
People who are charged together in the same case, often tried together in one trial.
Used inJennifer Pan
Concurrent sentence
A sentence served at the same time as another one, instead of one after the other.
Used inJennifer Pan
Conspiracy to commit murder
Agreeing with at least one other person to commit a murder. The agreement itself is the crime, whether or not anyone is killed.
Used inJennifer Pan
ContinuanceUnited States
When a court moves a scheduled hearing to a later date, often because one or both sides ask. It does not decide anything in the case.
Used inGabrielle Petito
CoronerUnited States
The official who confirms who died and rules on why and how. In Wyoming each county elects one; the coroner can order an autopsy.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Court of Appeal for OntarioCanada
Ontario's highest court. It reviews trials for legal mistakes; it doesn't hear witnesses again or decide the case from scratch.
Used inJennifer Pan
Credit for pretrial custody
Time someone has already spent in jail before sentencing, counted toward their new sentence.
Used inJennifer Pan
Cross-appeal
An appeal by the other side in the same case. Here the Crown appealed, and the four accused cross-appealed to ask for more than the lower court gave them.
Used inJennifer Pan
CrownCanada
The prosecution in a Canadian criminal case. Crown lawyers bring the case on behalf of the state, which is why cases are named "R. v." (the King or Queen versus the accused).
Used inJennifer Pan
Dissent
Reasons written by judges who disagree with the majority. A dissent doesn't change the result, but it's part of the public record.
Used inJennifer Pan
Domestic violence callUnited States
A report to police of violence or threats between people in a close relationship, such as partners who live together. In Utah, officers who answer one must follow specific state rules on arrests and citations.
Used inGabrielle Petito
EstateUnited States
Everything a person owned or owed when they died. An administrator is the person a court puts in charge of it, and can sue or be sued on its behalf.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Federal arrest warrantUnited States
An order from a U.S. federal court telling law enforcement to arrest a named person on a federal charge. In this case it was for misuse of a debit card, not for a death.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Final judgmentUnited States
A court's last decision that ends a case in that court, which can then be appealed. A judgment by stipulation is one both sides agreed to, not one decided after a trial.
Used inGabrielle Petito
First-degree murderCanada
The most serious form of murder in Canada, usually a killing that was planned and deliberate. It carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Used inJennifer Pan
Governmental immunityUnited States
Rules that protect governments, including police departments, from some lawsuits. Utah's law blocks many suits where a death was caused by a third person, which is why the Moab case was dismissed and why the appeal challenges that law.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Guilty plea
When the accused admits the charge in court instead of going to trial. The judge has to be satisfied the plea is voluntary and that the person understands it.
Used inJennifer Pan
Homicide (as a ruling)
When a coroner rules a death a homicide, it means the death was caused by another person. It is not a criminal charge, and it does not say whether a crime like murder was committed or by whom.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Included offence
A less serious crime that's built into a more serious charge, so a jury can convict of it instead. Second-degree murder and manslaughter are included in a first-degree murder charge.
Used inJennifer Pan
Independent review
A check of how police handled a case, done by someone from outside the department. Here, a captain from another Utah city's police department reviewed how Moab officers handled the August 12 stop.
Used inGabrielle Petito
IndictmentUnited States
A formal criminal charge voted by a grand jury, a group of citizens who decide whether there is enough evidence to charge someone. It is an accusation, not a conviction.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Infliction of emotional distressUnited States
A civil claim that someone's extreme conduct, on purpose or recklessly, caused another person severe emotional harm. Filing it is an accusation; only a court ruling or verdict would be a finding.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Joint submissionCanada
When the Crown and the defence ask the judge for the same sentence. Judges in Canada should accept it unless it would make the justice system look broken.
Used inJennifer Pan
Jury aid
Something like a chart or slide show that the judge lets jurors use to follow complicated evidence. It isn't evidence itself, and the judge tells the jury its limits.
Used inJennifer Pan
Jury verdict
The jury's decision on each charge. In a Canadian criminal trial, all twelve jurors have to agree.
Used inJennifer Pan
Leave to appealCanada
Permission to appeal. The Supreme Court of Canada hears most cases only after it agrees to, by granting leave.
Used inJennifer Pan
Lethality assessmentUnited States
A short list of questions officers ask at a domestic violence call to judge how much danger the victim is in, and to connect them with help. Utah made it required on every domestic violence call in 2023.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Life sentenceCanada
A sentence that lasts for the rest of the person's life. Even if they're later released on parole, they stay under supervision and can be sent back to prison.
Used inJennifer Pan
Manner of death
The category a coroner or medical examiner puts a death in: natural, accident, suicide, homicide, or undetermined. It is a medical ruling, not a criminal finding.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Manslaughter
Causing someone's death unlawfully, but without the intent the law requires for murder. The sentence can be anything up to life in prison.
Used inJennifer Pan
Medical examinerUnited States
A doctor appointed to investigate deaths and rule on their cause and manner. Florida uses regional medical examiners instead of elected coroners.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Missing person report
A report to police that someone cannot be found and may be in danger. It starts an official search, and there is no required waiting period before making one.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Mistrial
When a judge stops a trial before the verdict because something has made a fair result impossible. The case usually starts over with a new jury.
Used inJennifer Pan
NegligenceUnited States
Failing to act with the care a reasonable person, or a reasonable officer, would use, in a way that causes harm. It is a claim in a civil case, not a crime, and here it is an allegation, not a finding.
Used inGabrielle Petito
New trial
An appeal court's order that a charge be tried again from the start. The earlier conviction on that charge is cancelled, but that isn't an acquittal.
Used inJennifer Pan
Notice of claimUnited States
A formal letter that must be sent to a government before suing it in Utah, saying what the claim is and what is being asked for. The government then has a set time to respond before a lawsuit can be filed.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Oral argumentUnited States
A hearing where lawyers for each side speak to the appeals court judges and answer their questions, usually for a fixed time like 20 minutes a side. The decision comes later, in writing.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Parole eligibilityCanada
The point at which a prisoner can ask the Parole Board of Canada to be released under supervision. Being eligible doesn't mean parole will be granted.
Used inJennifer Pan
Person of interestUnited States
Someone police want to talk to because they may have useful information. It is not a legal term and not a charge; police often use it for the last person known to be with a missing person.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Predominant aggressorUnited States
In a domestic violence call where both people say the other was violent, the person police decide was the main aggressor in that incident. It is a judgment about one incident, not about the whole relationship.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Probable causeUnited States
Enough facts to make a reasonable person believe a crime was probably committed. It is the bar police must meet to arrest someone or get a warrant, and it is much lower than proof in a trial.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Remand
When a case is put off to a later court date, and the accused is usually held in custody until then.
Used inJennifer Pan
Search warrantUnited States
A judge's written permission for police to search a specific place for specific things. Getting one requires probable cause, but a search is not a finding against the people who live there.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Second-degree murderCanada
An intentional killing that wasn't planned and deliberate. It also carries an automatic life sentence, but the judge sets parole eligibility somewhere between 10 and 25 years.
Used inJennifer Pan
Settlement
An agreement that ends a lawsuit without a trial. Nobody is found liable, and the terms can be kept confidential.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Severance
A judge's order splitting one accused person's case off from a joint trial so it can be dealt with separately.
Used inJennifer Pan
Superior Court of JusticeCanada
Ontario's main trial court for serious crimes. Murder trials with juries are held here.
Used inJennifer Pan
Supreme Court of CanadaCanada
The country's highest court, in Ottawa. Its decisions are final.
Used inJennifer Pan
Unauthorized use of an access deviceUnited States
A federal crime of using someone else's debit card, credit card, or account number without permission. It was the charge in the federal warrant for Brian Laundrie, not a charge for her death.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Welfare checkUnited States
A visit by police to a home to check that the people there are safe. It is not a search, and it does not mean anyone is accused of anything.
Used inGabrielle Petito
Wrongful death lawsuitUnited States
A civil lawsuit brought by a dead person's family or estate, claiming someone's wrongdoing or carelessness caused or contributed to the death. It asks for money, not punishment.
Used inGabrielle Petito