1. Courts: trial courts, common pleas courts, municipal and coun
ty courts, mayors' courts, courts of claims, courts of appeals, the State
Supreme Court.
The Federal courts, district courts, the US Supreme Court, juvenile court.
2. Cases: lawsuit, civil cases, criminal cases, framed-up cases.
3. Offences: felony, misdemeanour, murder, manslaughter, homicide, rape, assault, arson, robbery, burglary, theft/larceny, kidnapping, embezzlement, bribery, forgery, fraud, swindling, perjury, slander, blackmail, abuse of power, disorderly conduct, speeding, petty offence, house-breaking, shoplifting, mugging, contempt of court, subpoena.
4. Participants of the legal procedure: 1) parties to a lawsuit: claimant/plaintiff (in a civil case); defendant, offender (first/repeat); attorney for the plaintiff (in a civil case); prosecutor (criminal); attorney for defence; 2) jury, Grand jury, to serve on a jury, to swear the jury, to convene; 3) witness — a credible witness; 4) a probation officer; 5) bailiff.
5. Legal procedure: to file a complaint/a countercomplaint, to answer/challenge the complaint; to notify the defendant of the lawsuit; to issue smb a summons; to issue a warrant of arrest (a search warrant); to indict smb for felony; to bring lawsuit; to take legal actions; to bring the case to court; to bring criminal prosecution; to make an opening statement; the prosecution; the defence; to examine a witness — direct examination, cross-examination; to present evidence (direct, circumstantial, relevant, material, incompetent, irrelevant, admissible, inadmissible, corroborative, irrefutable, presumptive, documentary); to register (to rule out, to sustain) an objection; circumstances (aggravating, circumstantial, extenuating); to detain a person, detention; to go before the court.
6. Penalties or sentences: bail, to release smb on bail; to bring in (to return, to give) a verdict of guilty/not guilty; a jail sentence; send smb to the penitentiary/jail; to impose a sentence on smb; to serve a sentence; a penitentiary term — a term of imprisonment (life, from 25 years to a few months imprisonment); hard labor, manual labor; probation, to be on probation, to place an offender on probation, to grant
Ж
probation/parole; parole, to release smb on parole, to be eligible for
parole.
7. A court-room: the judge's bench, the jury box; the dock, the
witness' stand/box; the public gallery.