Legal and Judicial Terminology and Procedure
What the domain tests
This domain tests the vocabulary and procedural sequence of Missouri courts. You need to recognize terms quickly enough to spell and capitalize them correctly and to avoid substituting a similar-sounding term.
Core rules
- Missouri's appellate structure: the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals sitting in three districts (Eastern, Western, and Southern), and the circuit courts. Associate circuit divisions handle many preliminary matters.
- Civil terms: plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, petition, answer, discovery, summary judgment, judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
- Criminal terms: arraignment, indictment, information, preliminary hearing, probable cause, nolle prosequi, voir dire, venire panel, peremptory strike, allocution.
- Missouri sentencing shorthand includes SIS (suspended imposition of sentence) and SES (suspended execution of sentence). Do not treat them as interchangeable.
- 'Appellant' and 'appellee' are appellate parties; 'plaintiff' and 'defendant' are trial-level terms.
Worked example
Dictated: 'The court sentenced the defendant to five years in the Department of Corrections, suspended execution of sentence, and placed him on probation for two years.' Reasoning: 'suspended execution of sentence' means the prison term was imposed but its execution was suspended; this is SES. If the court had withheld the imposition of sentence altogether, the correct term would be SIS. 'Department of Corrections' is a proper name. 'Probation' is a period of supervision, not a sentence of incarceration.
Traps
- Using 'SIS' and 'SES' interchangeably.
- Writing 'plaintive' for 'plaintiff' or 'respondant' for 'respondent.'
- Confusing 'venire' (the panel) with 'voir dire' (the questioning).
- Calling a criminal defendant 'guilty' before verdict or using 'convicted' for a pre-trial status.