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plea bargaining

(Encyclopedia)plea bargaining, negotiation in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a criminal charge in exchange for concessions by the prosecutor (representing the state). The defendant waives the right to ...

Shakhty

(Encyclopedia)Shakhty shäkhˈtē [key], city (1989 pop. 226,000), SW European Russia; a major anthracite-mining center of the Donets Basin. Industrial products include iron, clothing, brewed beverages, and footwea...

kaleidoscope

(Encyclopedia)kaleidoscope kəlīˈdəskōp [key], optical instrument that uses mirrors to produce changing symmetrical patterns. Invented by the Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster in 1816, the device is usually...

Scottsboro Case

(Encyclopedia)Scottsboro Case. In 1931 nine black youths were indicted at Scottsboro, Ala., on charges of having raped two white women in a freight car passing through Alabama. In a series of trials the youths were...

ordeal

(Encyclopedia)ordeal, ancient legal custom whereby an accused person was required to perform a test, the outcome of which decided the person's guilt or innocence. By an ordeal, appeal was made to divine authority t...

Sacheverell, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Sacheverell, Henry səshĕˈvərəl [key], 1674?–1724, English clergyman, the center of a religio-political incident in the reign of Queen Anne. In two sermons (1709) Dr. Sacheverell attacked the Wh...

Borden, Lizzie Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Borden, Lizzie Andrew, 1860–1927, American woman accused of killing her father and her step-mother, b. Fall River, Mass. The elder Bordens were hacked to death with an ax on Aug. 4, 1892. Although L...

Riom

(Encyclopedia)Riom rēôNˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 19,302), Puy-de-Dôme dept., S central France, in Auvergne. It has distilleries, tobacco plants, and factories making pharmaceuticals. Of Gallic origin, the Roman ...

Verres, Caius

(Encyclopedia)Verres, Caius kāˈəs vĕrˈēz [key], c.120 b.c.–43 b.c., Roman administrator. He held various posts before serving as governor of Sicily (73–71 b.c.). His corruption and extortion were notable ...

Zenger, John Peter

(Encyclopedia)Zenger, John Peter zĕngˈər [key], 1697–1746, American journalist, b. Germany. He emigrated to America in 1710 and was trained in the printing trade by the pioneer printer William Bradford. Zenger...