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Answer
A pleading by which defendant responds to the plaintiff's complaint
Mitigating circumstance
A circumstance that may be considered to reduce the degree of moral culpability, although it does not entirely justify or excuse an offense.
Directed verdict
In civil cases in which there is insufficient basis for any other conclusion, the judge may direct the jury to render a specific verdict. Criminal defendants may also ask the court to rule in their favor rather than submitting the case to the jury.
Mandamus
A writ by which a court commands the performance of a particular act.
Nolle prosequi
A formal entry upon the record by the plaintiff in a civil suit, or the prosecuting officer in a criminal case, declaring the case will not be prosecuted.
Escrow
Writing, deed, money, stock, or other property is given to a third person to hold until all conditions in a contract are fulfilled.
Commutation
The change of a punishment from a greater degree to a lesser degree, as from death to life imprisonment. In Utah the Board of Pardons may do this
res judicata
Literally, "a thing that speaks for itself." In tort law, the doctrine, which holds a defendant guilty of negligence without an actual, shows that he or she was negligent. Its use is limited in theory to cases in which the cause of the plaintiff's injury was entirely under the control of the defendant, and the injury presumably could have been caused only by negligence.
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