The party who is sued in a civil lawsuit or in a criminal prosecution, the party who is charged with a crime. In a divorce, a defendant may also be called a respondent.

No, only the Sheriff's Office is allowed to remove and levy on property pursuant to a court order. The Sheriff's Office, acting as the intermediary party in the action, seizes and removes the property and protects the property until disposed at a Sheriff's sale.

The Court has forms which you should fill out before you leave. Nothing further is required at this time. You will be receiving a "default notice" by mail, as will the defendant. If the latter does not move to timely remove said default, the Clerk's Office may be contacted relative to your further post-judgment options.

If the defendant does not show up in court to defend himself/herself, then the judge will most likely rule in favor of the plaintiff. The term for this type of judgment is called a "default judgment" and is as good as getting a regular judgment. If the plaintiff fails to show, the judge will most likely dismiss the case.

An indigent defendant is someone charged with a crime who is financially unable to hire an attorney. The Public Defender represents indigent defendants.

Your complaint will be sent to the defendant by certified mail. If the post office return indicates that the service is not perfected, you must make other arraignments to serve the defendant, depending upon the reason that the service is not good.

Contact 911 immediately and report it. Fill out a statement about what occurred. After the law enforcement officer has taken your report, notify your prosecutor. It is against the law to threaten, harass or intimidate any witness, with the purpose of affecting the court proceedings.

When anything is changed in a name record, such as the defendant's height or weight, a new record is created. Also, some people use alias names and dates of birth. When different names and/or dates of birth are listed under one SPN, Harris County has determined that all the records belong to the same person.

Environmental Crimes Lawyer Walter James answers this age-old defense question in his latest post. He ends by commenting that this is for one particular case, and that the decision must be made on a case by case basis. Facts which made this particular decision easier: The three remaining individual defendants all possessed college degrees or the equivalent of a college degree, all were very articulate, none had any prior convictions and all had impeccable character.

Cases must first be accused by the Solicitor General's Office, then filed in the Criminal Division of the State Court Clerk's Office. After cases are filed, docketed, given computer generated accusation numbers and computer generated judge assignments, they are processed, routed to the respective Judges' judicial case managers, then scheduled for court hearings. Notices to defendants are mailed two to three weeks prior to court dates by the Judges' Judicial Case Managers.

Contact the Seneca County Jail at the Sheriff's Office at 419-448-5074 where the Defendant was booked into custody. Personnel at the jail can explain where the Defendant is being housed and his expected release date. If a Defendant is serving time in a state prison and you are the victim in the case, please call the Seneca County Victim Assistance Program at 419-448-5070 or toll free at 800-400-9900 for assistance in finding out how to get information on a prison release date.

The surety or depositor may arrest the defendant, or authorize and agent to do so for the purpose of surrendering him into custody to ensure his future appearance. This extraordinary power of the bail bondsman is of ancient origin. When bail is given, the principal is regarded as delivered to the custody of his sureties. Their dominion is a continuance of the original imprisonment.

The Civil Records Section can look this up on the computer if you furnish the name of the plaintiff and the defendant or the civil suit docket number.

A defendant is served by a certified process server ? the Leon County Sheriff's Office or a private process server. For each defendant listed in the complaint/petition, the plaintiff must provide an original and two copies of the Summons. A copy of the complaint/petition and any other documents filed must be attached to the Summons for service. The Leon County Sheriff's Office charges $20.00 to serve a defendant; private process servers vary in their service charges.

Sometimes the best result is a guilty plea. By avoiding a possible court trial, the defendant may plead to a lesser charge and therefore avoid a potential stiffer penalty. Most judges will offer a lighter sentence in exchange for a guilty plea at the arraignment. In addition, a guilty plea speeds the process forward and eliminates a long, drawn out trial process.

The only time a victim is required to be in court is if they have been sent a Subpoena to appear. Generally, that occurs only in trials. The victim does not have to appear at bond hearings or guilty pleas.

The defendant must be present in court to hear what all the witnesses say about him/her. The lawyer for the defendant is called the defense attorney and will ask you questions after the prosecutor asks questions.