Bell Ringer Instructions
• Each day you will have vocabulary words to copy
when the bell rings to start class.
• Copy each word onto a list in your notebook.
These should be on loose-leaf paper.
• LISTEN to the definitions of the words as I go over
them in class each day.
• There will be a QUIZ on the words at the end of
each list—Every 25 words
• You will turn in your Bell Ringer words on the
QUIZ day for a grade.
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words
List 1-1
• Accelerant--A substance, chemical, or compound that
speeds the combustion process
• Accessory--One who assists in a subordinate capacity
in the commission of an offense; one who aids and
assists
• Accomplice--A partner in a given crime; one who
knowingly and voluntarily assists another in the
commission of an unlawful act
• Accountability--The state of being culpable,
answerable, liable, or responsible
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 1-2
• Acquittal--A setting free, absolving, release, or
discharge of a defendant from a formal
accusation
• Admissibility of evidence--The ruling by the trial
judge as to whether evidence is admissible at trial
• Admission--A voluntary acknowledgment made
by a suspect to the existence of a fact or facts at
issue in an investigation.
• Affidavit--A written statement of facts voluntarily
made under oath.
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 1-3
• Age of accountability--The minimal age at which
one is legally considered to have the mental
capacity to be held accountable for his or her
actions or inactions in a criminal context
• Age of consent--The minimal age at which a female
may legally consent to sexual intercourse without
placing her sexual partner in criminal jeopardy for
charges of statutory rape or some like offense.
• Aiding and abetting--The affirmative assistance of
facilitation in the commission of a crime through
various forms of encouragement or support
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 1-4
• Alibi--An excuse or explanation that the
accused was elsewhere or otherwise could not
have committed the alleged offense
• Altercation--A heated dispute, often ending in
an assault or a battery
• Annulment--Invalidation or cancellation of
something; the make void or abrogate
• Appeal--A review of the decision by a lower
court by a higher court
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 1-5
• Appellant--The person who initiates and carries
forward an appeal from a lower court to a higher
court
• Apprehension--The physical seizure, taking, or
arresting of a person for violation of a law
• Arbitrator--A neutral person chosen to settle
disputes, outside of the formal justice system
• Arrest--The deprivation of one’s liberty through
legal authority, usually for the purpose of
formally charging him or her with a crime
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 1-6
• Arson--The intentional and malicious burning or
explosion of another’s building, vehicle, or
property or the burning or explosion of one’s own
for the purpose of insurance fraud
• Assault--A willful and lawful attempt to deliver a
battery or a gesture that places another in the
position to reasonably expect to receive a battery
• Attorney-Client Privilege--A client’s privilege to
disallow disclosure of any confidential
communications between himself/herself and the
attorney of record
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 1-7
• Authenticating witness--One who testifies that a
written document is what it purports and that it
was generated by the party to whom it is
attributed
• Automated Fingerprint Identification System--a
relatively recent computer-based fingerprint
recording and classification technology
• Autopsy--The physical examination and surgical
dissection of a body in order to determine the
cause of death
Quiz Tomorrow!
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 2-1
• Bail--The surety or sureties, deposited with the court,
procuring the release of a person under pretrial
custody, for the purpose of ensuring the defendant’s
appearance at trial
• Bailiff--An officer of the court responsible for the
custody of prisoners while in court, the security of the
court, as well as the protection of its personnel,
property, and processes
• Battery--The unlawful use of force upon another, that
which follows an assault
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 2-2
• Bench Trial--A trial before a judge without a jury;
a trial where a jury waiver has been granted
• Benzidine Test--A preliminary chemical field test
used on stains to detect the presence of blood
• Best-evidence rule--This rule requires the original
or “best evidence” to be produced in court.
• Beyond a reasonable doubt--That level of proof
required for a conviction for the violation of a
criminal statute
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 2-3
• Bias--The influence, prejudice, inclination, or
predisposition of opinion that does not leave the mind
open to fully and fairly consider all facts in a legal
controversy
• Bill of Indictment--A legal document of accusation,
often drafted by a prosecutor charging an individual
with the commission of a crime (usually a felony).
• Bill of Rights--The first ten amendments to the United
States Constitution
• Blackmail--Extorted payment made to prevent the
disclosure of information that could bring about public
disgrace
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 2-4
• Bond--An obligation imposed by money or other
assets, which is deposited with the clerk of the court
by the defendant, to secure temporary release from
custody
• Booking--The administrative processing of an arrested
person
• Bounty--An award or premium offered and authorized
by the government for the carrying out of a particular
act
• Bribe--Anything offered with the intention of inducing
another to do something illegal, morally, or ethically
wrong
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words 2-5
• Brief--A written document prepared by an attorney
representing a condensed statement of a larger
document of facts and circumstances
• Burden of proof--The legal duty or responsibility to
affirmatively establish a fact at issue
• Burglary--The unlawful entry of the dwelling of a
place of another with the intent of committing a
crime
• Cadaver--A dead human body
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 2-6
• Caliber--The size of a firearm projectile, bullet,
or shell casing according to its diameter
• Capacity--A legal qualification, ability,
competency, or disability
• Capital offense--Any offense punishable by
death
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 2-7
• Career criminal--A person with a history of
criminal arrests and convictions for various
offenses
• Cease-and-desist order--A formal order issued
by a court forbidding a person, persons,
organization, or business to continue a specific
act, actions, or course of conduct.
• Chain of command--An organizational hierarchy
through which information and orders flow
QUIZ TOMORROW!
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 3-1
• Chain of custody--A formal accounting for the
security of evidence to be used by the prosecution
at trial to ensure the integrity of the evidence
• Change of venue--The movement of a case from
one judicial venue to another, often granted when
one of the parties to the case demonstrates that
an impartial trial cannot be had in the original
district
• Character evidence--Evidence concerning one’s
reputation or moral standing in the community.
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 3-2
• Charge--An allegation of a criminal act or acts against
an individual, appearing in a formal complaint in
misdemeanor cases or information or an indictment
in a felony case.
• Child abuse--Acts or omissions endangering a child’s
physical or emotional well-being.
• Child molester--One, often a pedophile, who in some
capacity knowingly assaults a child sexually.
• Child neglect--The willing failure to adequately
provide a minor child with the basic necessities of life,
including but not limited to nutrition, clothing,
housing, education, and adult supervision.
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 3-3
• Chronic offender--One who continues to
violate the law long-term.
• Circumstantial evidence--Evidence, often
testimonial, establishing facts from which a
jury may make inferences regarding other facts
at hand.
• Citation--A written order executed by a police
agency to appear before a judge at a specified
date and time
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 3-4
• Citizen’s arrest--A warrantless arrest executed
by a private citizen for a violation of a serious
breach of peace.
• Civil commitment--A civil detention or
confinement of individuals who are disordered,
alcoholically or chemically dependent, or
insane.
• Civil death--The act of losing certain privileges
such as the right to vote, litigate, hold public
office, because of a felony conviction
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 3-5
• Civil disobedience--A method of drawing
attention to perceived injustice, condition, or law
by purposely breaking another law.
• Civil law--That body of law dealing exclusively
with private wrongs between individuals
• Civil liberties--Those liberties enumerated in the
first ten amendments of the US Constitution that
expressively states what the government can and
cannot do to its people
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 3-6
• Civil rights--Those privileges to which a citizen
may lawfully request affirmative governmental
assistance, such as the right to vote.
• Clemency--A form of final nonjudicial relief for
alleged crimes, generally issued by a governor
of a state
• Coercion--Any compulsion or constraint,
whether physical, psychological, direct or
indirect, that compels one to act against their
will
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 3-7
• Competency--Those factors that make a witness
legally qualified or disqualified to give testimony
or evidence to be admitted or excluded from
trial
• Complaint--A formal written accusation, made
under oath and providing facts required to
support a criminal charge
• Condemn--To pass judgment or pronounce guilty
Bell Ringer Vocabulary List 3-8
• Confession--A statement that is usually
recorded in some fashion, being composed of
a number of admissions concerning the
commission of a crime or crimes
• Confiscation--The authorized seizure of
property without compensation
• Conflict of interest--A condition arising from
decisions and actions by officials when they
have a vested interest in the outcome of a
controversy and cannot act in a neutral
capacity
QUIZ TOMORROW!
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 4-1
• Constitutional right--A right or a protection
granted to the citizens of a commonwealth in
the law of the sovereign
• Continuance--The postponement of a court
proceeding for cause
• Contraband--Any property, material, object, or
substance that is unlawful to possess, transport,
or manufacture
• Convict--To find one guilty of a criminal offense
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 4-2
• Conviction--The affirmative determination or
judgment of a court arising from a jury verdict
or the decision of a judge at a bench trial
• Copycat Syndrome--The committing of an act,
often criminal, in imitation of what others have
recently done
• Coroner--An elected county-level criminal
justice official charged with the duty of
determining the cause of death where
suspicious circumstances are present
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words list 4-3
• Correctional institution--A facility dedicated to
administering the sanctions pronounced by the
criminal courts following guilty verdicts
• Counselor--A licensed member of the legal
profession who renders legal advice on issues of
the law
• Count--A synonym for “charge” in criminal
proceedings
• Court order--Any command or directive issued
under the authority of a judicial officer
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 4-4
• Crime--Any act that a reasonable person would
or should have known intuitively was a wrong
• Criminal contempt--The willful vilification of the
court in the presence of the court
• Criminal intent--An element inherent in all
crimes that must be proven in order to achieve a
criminal conviction
• Criminalist--A forensic scientist who is employed
by a crime laboratory
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 4-5
• Cross-examination--The reexamination of a
witness by a party other than the original
examiner
• Cruel and unusual punishment--Punishment
prohibited by the Eighth Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution
• Curfew--A law, rule, or regulation establishing a
time at which all persons of a specified age or
class must be out of public places
• Custody--The legal detention of a person or thing
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 4-6
• Deadly weapon--Any weapon, instrument, tool,
object, material, or substance used in a manner
intended to cause death or great bodily harm to
another
• Death penalty--The imposition or sanction of
death upon a criminal conviction for a small
band of criminal offenses that meet special
circumstances
• Decedent--The deceased or a dead person
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 4-7
• Defendant--One who is civilly sued or is
criminally accused
• Defense--The defendant and his or her
attorney collectively
• Delinquent--A juvenile offender
QUIZ TOMORROW!
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 5-1
• Demeanor--Conduct or outwardly observable
behavior
• Deportation--The banishment of a person to
another nation state, often accompanied by
confiscation of properties and the withdrawal of
civil rights and liberties
• Detain--To restrain, delay, or keep in custody
• Detention--A noninvasive technical arrest where
the decision to charge has not formally been
made
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 5-2
• Direct evidence--Evidence proving the
existence of facts at issue deriving from the
testimony of a first-hand witness
• Direct examination--The first examination of a
witness by the party who summoned him or
her
• Discretion--A legally recognized prerogative
granted to public functionaries to make their
own judgments and to act in an official
capacity in situations that are ambiguous
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 5-3
• Disorderly conduct--Any act against public
morals, peace, and safety
• DNA fingerprinting--A metaphor for the
unique identification rendered through
biological processes, where comparisons are
made upon a probability estimate
• Docket--The formal register in which the
proceedings of the significant acts done in a
court of justice are recorded
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 5-4
• Doe, John--A fictitious name given to a party
in a legal action where his or her name is
unknown or where he or she wishes to remain
anonymous
• Domain--The sovereign authority of a state,
allowing for public control, usage, or
ownership of private property
• Domestic violence--An assault or battery upon
a member of the household including a
spouse, parent, child or other blood-related
family member, or others living in the house
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 5-5
• Double jeopardy--A prohibition found in
common-law and the Fifth Amendment against a
second prosecution for the same offense
• Due process clause--Found in the Fifth and
Fourteenth Amendments—individuals are
guaranteed fundamental fairness in legal
proceedings and the right to prevent government
interference
• Duress--The unlawful influence inducing one to
commit an act or crime otherwise not
contemplated by the actor
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 5-6
• Embezzlement--The unlawful appropriation and
or conversion of money or other assets places in
one’s care to his or her gain
• Eminent domain--A legal document granting the
state the right to seize private property for public
interests with adequate compensation to the
owner
• Entrapment--The act of the government inducing
one to violate a criminal statute for the express
purpose of arresting him or her
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 5-7
• Evidence--Something presented at trial with
probative value, providing information to the
court regarding matters in controversy, including
documents, objects, substances, and testimony
• Examination--An investigation, search, or
interrogation of a subject
• Exclusionary rule--A court-generated rule holding
that evidence obtained in violation of the U.S.
Constitution becomes tainted and thus, is
inadmissible at trial
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 5-8
• Execution--The lawful putting to death of a
person thus sentenced
• Executive order--Any order or regulation
issued by the president or administrative
agency of government by the president’s
authority to interpret or carry out a law
• Exemplar--A form on nontestimonial evidence
taken from or produced by the defendants
QUIZ TOMORROW!
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 6-1
• Exhibit--Any physical object offered in
evidence at a trial
• Exhumation--The digging up of a corpse
• Exonerate--To free one from the verdict of
guilt
• Extortion--the exacting of something of value
from another through threats, violence, or the
law
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 6-2
• Extradition--The process of formally
surrendering a person wanted on criminal
charges by one nation to another
• Eyewitness--One offering direct testimony
concerning something that he or she has
observed first-hand.
• Felony--A crime of greater gravity than a
misdemeanor
• Finding--A decision on a question of fact by a
jury, court, or other tribunal
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 6-3
• Fine--A sanction imposed by the court on a convicted
person, stipulating a specific sum of money to be paid to
the court
• Flight--The act of knowingly and voluntarily escaping or
fleeing from justice
• Forgery--The unlawful act of imitating or counterfeiting
documents or personal signatures for the purpose of
deception with the intent to knowingly injure or defraud
another
• Fraud--The knowing and unlawful deception of another
with the intent to cause him or her to unwillingly
surrender property, rights, or money
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 6-4
• Fugitive--One who knowingly and intentionally
flees from justice
• Gag order--An order issued by the court to
attorneys and witnesses that prevents them
from discussing a trial with the media in
attempt to assure the defendant a fair trial
• Grandfather clause--A policy exempting those
already vested under a preexisting rule to
continue to do what a new rule disallows
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 6-5
• Grand jury--A group of citizens judicially impaneled
for the purpose of determining whether there is
sufficient cause to bind a criminal defendant over for
trial
• Grievance--A formal complaint filed by the proper
union representative with an organization regarding
an issue covered under a collective bargaining
agreement
• Hate crimes--Acts of violence or intimidation
intended to victimize, terrorize, or frighten
unpopular groups or individuals as a result of the
ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 6-6
• Hearing --A proceeding, generally before a
trial, where facts, evidence, witnesses and
arguments are reviewed or heard by a judge
without a jury
• Hearsay--Out-of-court statements offered with
the intent of proving the truth of a matter
• Hijacking--Taking control of any vehicle and/or
the driver and passengers through the use of
force or intimidation
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 6-7
• Hit and run--The unlawful flight by the operator of a
motor vehicle from the scene of an accident resulting
in death, injury, or damage to the property of
another
• Homicide--The killing of a human being by another
• Hostage--One confined or offered as a pledge for the
attainment of specified agreements or conditions
• House arrest--The monitored restriction of a subject
to his or her residence before a hearing
QUIZ TOMORROW!
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 7-1
• Hung jury--A jury that is so irreconcilably divided
as to be unable to come to a decision
• Immunity--Exemption, release, or freedom from
legal obligations, duties, and requirements
• Impoundment--The confiscation or seizure by
police or law enforcement authorities of
evidence or materials used in the commission of
a crime
• Inadmissibility--The inability to gain admittance
into evidence for trial, under recognized rules or
evidence and procedure
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 7-2
• Inalienable rights--Those rights that are not
capable of surrender or transfer without the
express consent of the person in possession of
such rights
• Incapacitation--The lack of legal, physical,
moral, or mental capacity
• Incarceration--An imprisonment or
confinement in a penal, correctional, or
custodial facility
• Incendiary--A type of device used to set a fire
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 7-3
• Incriminate--To blame, accuse, or suggest
culpability in crime
• Indictment--A formal written accusation
presented to the court by a grand jury, charging
one or more persons with the violation of a
statute after examination of facts
• Informant--One who provides information and is
used as a source
• Injunction--A judicial order directed to a person,
requiring that a person do or refrain from doing a
particular act or thing
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 7-4
• Insanity--A term indicating the necessary
degree of mental illness or capacity to negate
one’s legal culpability, responsibility, or
capacity
• Intelligence--The acquisition of information
relative to crime
• Intent--The state of mind behind a criminal act
• Internal Affairs Division (IAD)--A unit within a
police agency charged with investigating police
wrongdoing
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 7-5
• Interrogation--A forceful questioning or examination
of a suspect in a criminal investigation
• Intrinsic evidence--The evidence garnered from a
document needing no explanation
• Involuntary manslaughter--An unlawful homicide
committed unintentionally
• Jeopardy--Exposure danger in legal process, criminal
conviction and punishment
• Judgment--A judicial or other legal decision, decree,
order, sanction, or sentence
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 7-6
• Jurisdiction--The authority and power to apply
specific types of law and the geographic area
in which the legal authority and power is
applicable
• Jury--A group of citizens, selected according to
law and sworn to hear evidence in a legal trial
and to render a decision based upon that
evidence
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 7-7
• Justification--A term used to demonstrate
sufficient reason why a defendant acted in the
way he or she did in the cause for which he or
she is to answer before the court
• Juvenile--A person under a statutorily
specified age who is potentially under the
jurisdiction of a specialized court
QUIZ TOMORROW!
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 8-1
• Kidnapping--The unlawful, intentional, and
felonious taking of a human being by force
against his or her will
• Larceny--A general term for various forms of
theft, defined as the unlawful and intentional
taking of another’s property, without his or her
consent and with the intent to permanently
deprive
• Latent fingerprint--One present yet not visible to
the naked eye
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 8-2
• Lay witness--A non-expert who must testify to
facts based on this or her ability to observe or
recall
• Legal aid--A generic phrase used for a
nationwide system providing legal services to
those who cannot afford to hire private legal
counsel
• Lineup--A police investigative technique
wherein a suspect is placed in a line with
others known not to have been involved in the
crime
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 8-3
• Litigation--A suit or judicial controversy
• Mandate--A command, order, or directive
issued buy a court demanding that the proper
officer enforce a judgment, sentence, or
decree.
• Mandatory sentence--A statutory provision
requiring that a specified penalty be imposed
for specific offenses upon conviction
• Manslaughter--The unlawful killing of another
without malice
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 8-4
• Material witness--A witness whose testimony is
so important to either the prosecution or
defense that he or she may be required to post
a bond to ensure appearance in court
• Medical examiner--A licensed physician, usually
a pathologist, holding an appointed position at
the county level, who performs autopsies on
the bodies of persons that meet violent or
unexplained deaths
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 8-5
• Mistrial--A trial terminated prior to its finish as
a result of a lack of jurisdiction, improper
drawing of jurors, or some other fundamental
shortcoming
• Modus operandi--A term that describes the
habits, patterns, or operating methods of
criminals
• Morgue--A facility where dead bodies of
unknown persons are held for identification
purposes and eventual disposal
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 8-6
• Motive--The causative factor or combination of
factors moving the will and inducing the action
• Murder--The unlawful and intentional killing of a
human being
• Negligence--Conduct falling short of what would be
expected of a prudent, reasonable person under
similar circumstances
• Objection--A formal opposition, made in court and
noted in the official record, to a statement or
evidence presented
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 8-7
• Offender--A term for one implicated in a
criminal act
• Ordinance--A public law or statute
• Organized crime--An illegal pattern of activity
conducted by a consortium of people and/or
organizations, acting in concert, to carry out
fraud, theft, extortion, or intimidation
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 8-8
• Overrule--To supersede or to nullify
• Pardon--A remission of criminal acts
• Parole--The discretionary and conditional
release from prison, under the authority of a
supervising board
QUIZ TOMORROW!
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 9-1
• Pathology--The science dealing with the
causes, development, and effects of diseases
or death
• Perjury--The intentional false statement made
by one under oath
• Petition--A formal written document delivered
to the court, requesting judicial action in some
matter
• Plaintiff--One who brings an action
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 9-2
• Plea--The answer of a defendant to a formal
charge in open court
• Plea bargaining--The process of negotiation
between the state and the defendant
• Polygraph--An electro-mechanical instrument
that measures and records numerous
involuntary physiological responses to acts of
deception
• Postmortem--After death
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 9-3
• Possession--The custody, detention, control,
or occupancy of anything that is the subject of
property
• Posthumous--Something occurring, arising,
granted, or continuing after death
• Precedent--A decision by an appellant court
serving as the ruling authority on an issue in
question
• Profiler--One who develops an idea of an
unknown suspect
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 9-4
• Probable cause--The reasonable grounds to
support a belief in a reasonable person of
average intelligence that the accused is
responsible for a crime in question
• Probation--The conditional release of one
convicted of a crime into the community during
a period of supervision under an officer of the
law
• Prosecution--The party who initiates and
carries out a criminal or civil proceeding against
a defendant
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 9-5
• Protective custody--Custody provided for the
purpose of ensuring the safety of a person
• Public defender--A licensed attorney employed
by a governmental entity, or one appointed by
the court, to defend indigent defendants in
criminal matters
• Racial profiling--The selective enforcement of
the criminal law by police and law enforcement
officers, based on a profile regarding a specific
criminal activity, heavily based upon racial or
ethnic characteristics
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 9-6
• Ransom--The money, consideration, or
demand paid for the return of a kidnapped
person
• Rape--Sexual intercourse with another
without lawful consent
• Rebuttal--A refutation of something asserted
• Recant--To withdraw prior testimony formally
and publicly
Bell Ringer Vocabulary Words List 9-7
• Relevance--The state or quality of being
pertinent to the issue at hand
• Remand--To return by court order for review
or further consideration
• Retribution--Punishment for wrongs
committed
QUIZ TOMORROW!