Generally, two types of evidence exist in a criminal trial: circumstantial evidence and physical evidence. The difference is easy to understand. Physical evidence directly links the accused to the crime, while circumstantial evidence merely suggests their guilt. But what about the difference between hearsay and circumstantial evidence? If you watch courtroom dramas, maybe you've heard, [...]
As often happens before, during, and after presidential campaigns, the topic of absolute immunity inevitably gets brought up. What does this term mean? Why is it relevant? What does it have to do with the president? Should people support it or oppose it? We'll answer all these questions and more as we answer "What is [...]
Imagine living in a country where the government can seize your property for no reason at all. If they want to take your home away from you and put you out on the street, they can. If they want to take your car for no reason, they can. Or if they want to take your [...]
In our series about the Fifth Amendment, we’ve covered pleading the fifth and double jeopardy. In a lot of ways, you could consider these as continuations of our series on legal jargon. Today, we cover “due process.” You may have heard that phrase thrown around. What is it? How does it work? What does it [...]
So we’ve covered plausible deniability, reasonable doubt, habeas corpus, and mens rea. But there’s plenty more basic legal jargon to cover! However, not all of it deserves its own post. So let’s knock out some of the more basic ones, shall we? In this week’s post, we’ll cover terms like plaintiff, defendant, motion, ruling, and [...]
“Mens rea.” Maybe you’ve heard that term thrown around involving your case. Maybe you remember it from this scene in Legally Blonde (2001). What is mens rea? What does it have to do with the law? What significance might it play in your case? As we continue our Mark W. Catanzaro blog series on legal [...]