Aggravating Circumstance - Law Dictionary Search Results
Home Dictionary Name: aggravating circumstanceaggravating circumstance
aggravating circumstance : a circumstance relating to the commission of an act that increases the degree of liability or culpability [punitive damages are recoverable in a conversion case when the evidence shows legal malice, willfulness, insult, or other aggravating circumstances "Schwertfeger v. Moorehouse, 569 So. 2d 322 (1990)"] ;also : a circumstance (as lack of remorse) relating to an offense or defendant that receives consideration by the court esp. in imposing a death sentence compare mitigating circumstance ...
aggravator
aggravator : one that aggravates ;esp : aggravating circumstance [weigh the s and the mitigators in fixing a sentence] ...
mitigating circumstance
mitigating circumstance : a circumstance in the commission of an act that lessens the degree of criminal culpability [was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder because of mitigating circumstances] ;also : a circumstance or factor relating to an offense or defendant that does not bear on the question of culpability but that receives consideration by the court esp. in lessening the severity of a sentence [the mitigating circumstance of the defendant's terminal illness] compare aggravating circumstance ...
Aggravated assaults
Aggravated assaults, 'Aggravated' means aggravated in respect of violence, not by reason of indecency, R. v. Baker, (1876) 46 LJ Ex 75; on females or boys under fourteen, see (English) Offences against the Person Act, 1861, s. 43, which allows two justices, 'if the assault or battery is of such an aggravated nature that it cannot in their opinion be sufficiently punished under the provisions of s. 42 as to common assaults and batteries,' to give a convicted offender six months' imprisonment with hard labour or to fine him up to 20l. including costs (the maximum punishment for a common assault being two months' imprisonment, or a fine up to 5l.) and to bind him over to keep the peace. (English) Criminal Justice Act, 1925 (c. 86), s. 39 (2), has increased the fine up to 50l., not including costs.Means the criminal assault accompanied by circumstances that make it more severe, such as the use of a deadly weapon, the intent to commit another crime, or the intent to cause serious bodily har...
aggravate
aggravate -vat·ed -vat·ing : to make more serious, more severe, or worse [maliciousness aggravated the offense] [aggravated her preexisting condition] [aggravating factors] compare mitigate ag·gra·va·tion [a-grə-vā-shən] n ...
cruelty
cruelty pl: -ties 1 a : an intentional or criminally negligent act that causes pain and suffering [ to animals] [ to children] b : mistreatment or neglect that causes pain and suffering compare abuse NOTE: Cruelty is an aggravating circumstance to a crime (as murder). 2 : a spouse's conduct that endangers life or health or causes mental suffering or fear called also cruel and inhuman treatment NOTE: Cruelty is a ground for divorce. ...
larceny
larceny pl: -nies [modification of Anglo-French larcine theft, from Old French larrecin, from Latin latrocinium robbery, from latron- latro mercenary soldier, brigand] : the unlawful taking and carrying away of personal property with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it permanently ;also : any of several types of theft (as embezzlement or obtaining another's property by false pretenses) that have been traditionally distinguished from larceny NOTE: Under the Model Penal Code and in states that follow it, larceny is a type of theft. In states where larceny is currently defined as a separate crime, it may include the crimes that were distinct from it under common law. grand larceny : felonious larceny of property having a value greater than an amount fixed by law ;also : larceny accompanied by aggravating circumstances (as the use of threats) larceny by trick : larceny of property obtained by the use of misrepresentation esp. in getting an owner to hand over something i...
Aggravation
Aggravation, the increase of the enormity of a wrong. Matters of mere aggravation, that is, which tend only to increase the amount of damages, and do not constitute the right of action itself, need not be traversed in pleading. In a count, for example, charging a trespass in pulling down a house, it is mere matter of aggravation to state that the plaintiff was in it at the time. and see DAMAGES....
aggravated
aggravated : characterized by aggravating elements (as the use of a deadly weapon) [ kidnapping] ...
aggravated assault
aggravated assault see assault ...
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