I85PREP
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ID Court Reporter study materials
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ID Court Reporter: Legal and Judicial Terminology

ID Court Reporter · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Legal and Judicial Terminology

What the exam tests

Precision with procedural roles, burdens, motions, and appellate terms. The exam expects you to distinguish terms that sound alike and to spell them correctly in transcripts.

Roles and stages

  • Civil: plaintiff sues defendant; petitioner files a petition against respondent. Criminal: the State or municipality prosecutes the defendant.
  • Felony, misdemeanor, infraction; arraignment (advisement and plea); preliminary hearing; information or indictment; trial; sentencing; appeal.
  • Appellant brings the appeal; appellee responds. In Idaho, appeals go to the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court; the district court also hears appeals from magistrate decisions.
  • Voir dire (jury selection); challenge for cause; peremptory challenge; opening statement; direct, cross, redirect, recross; rebuttal.

Burdens and rulings

  • Beyond a reasonable doubt (criminal); preponderance of the evidence (most civil); clear and convincing (termination of parental rights and some fraud cases).
  • "Sustained" means the objection is upheld; "overruled" means it is denied. "Stricken" means testimony is removed from the record, and the jury may be instructed to disregard it.
  • "Motion in limine" is a pretrial ruling on admissibility; "summary judgment" is judgment without trial; a "directed verdict" in Idaho practice is a motion for judgment as a matter of law.
  • Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered for its truth; exceptions and non-hearsay uses matter.

Worked example

"The court sustained the State's objection" means the judge agreed with the prosecutor and the question or answer is not allowed. If the judge says "stricken," the court may also tell the jury to disregard it. In the transcript, record both the objection and the ruling verbatim; do not write "objection granted," which is not the standard term.

Traps

Confusing "sustained" with "overruled"; using "defendant" for the party who appealed; misspelling "judgment" as "judgement" in a legal document; and treating "probation" and "parole" as interchangeable.