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Elements of a crime -Specific factors that define a crime which the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to obtain a conviction: (1) that a crime has actually occurred, (2) that the accused intended the crime to happen, and (3) a timely relationship between the first two factors.

Eminent Domain -The power of the government to take private property for public use through condemnation.

En Banc -All the judges of a court sitting together. Appellate courts can consist of a dozen or more judges, but often they hear cases in panels of three judges. If a case is heard or reheard by the full court, it is heard en banc.

Encyclopedia -A book or series of books arranged alphabetically by topics containing information on areas of law, including citations to support the information.

Enjoining -An order by the court telling a person to stop performing a specific act.

Entity- A person or legally recognized organization.

Entrapment -The act of inducing a person to commit a crime so that a criminal charge will be brought against him.

Entry -A statement of conclusion reached by the court and placed in the court record.

Environment -The conditions, influences, or forces which affect the desirability and value of property, as well as the effect on people's lives.

Environmental Protection (EPA) -A federal agency created to permit coordinated and environment effective governmental action to preserve the quality of the . Agency

Equal Protection of the Law -The guarantee in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that all persons be treated equally by the law.

Equity- Justice administered according to fairness; the spirit or habit of fairness in dealing with other persons.

Escheat -The process by which a deceased person's property goes to the state if no heir can be found.

Escrow- Money or a written instrument such as a deed that, by agreement between two parties, is held by a neutral third party (held in escrow) until all conditions of the agreement are met.

Esquire -In the United States the title commonly appended after the name of an attorney. In English law a title of dignity next above gentleman and below knight. Title also given to barristers at law and others. Abbreviated: Esq.

Estate -A person's property.

Estate tax -Generally, a tax on the privilege of transferring property to others after a person's death. In addition to federal estate taxes, many states have their own estate taxes.

Estoppel -An impediment that prevents a person from asserting or doing something contrary to his own previous assertion or act.

Ethics -Of or relating to moral action and conduct; professionally right; conforming to professional standards.

Evidence -Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.

Exceptions -Declarations by either side in a civil or criminal case reserving the right to appeal a judge's ruling upon a motion. Also, in regulatory cases, objections by either side to points made by the other side or to rulings by the agency or one of its hearing officers.

Exclusionary Rule -The rule preventing illegally obtained evidence to be used in any trial.

Execute -To complete; to sign; to carry out according to its terms.

Executor -A personal representative, named in a will, who administers an estate.

Exempt property -All the property of a debtor which is not attachable under the Bankruptcy Code or the state statute.

Exhibit -A document or other item introduced as evidence during a trial or hearing.

Exonerate -Removal of a charge, responsibility, or duty.

Ex parte -On behalf of only one party, without notice to any other party. For example, a request for a search warrant is an ex parte proceeding, since the person subject to the search is not notified of the proceeding and is not present at the hearing.

Ex parte proceeding -Action circumstances which render a crime less aggravated, heinous, or reprehensible than it would otherwise be.

Expungement -The process by which the record of criminal conviction is destroyed or sealed.

Extradition -The surrender of an accused criminal by one state to the jurisdiction of another.

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