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Habeas Corpus

Literally, to have the body. Habeas is a procedure by which one can test the right of the warden of a prison, for example, to hold an accused person who has not yet been charged or for whom no bail has been set. See Writ of Habeas Corpus.

Habendum

The habendum clause in a deed or similar conveyancing document is the part that says how the person receiving title may "have and hold" the property rights conveyed by the document. For example, a deed might convey real property from A to B "to have and to hold in fee simple absolute forever" or "to have and to hold for life" or even "to have and to hold so long as B remains sober".

Harassment

Anything intentionally done by one person to disturb or interfere with another person’s right to be left alone.

Have and Hold

See Habendum.

Hearsay

Here’s a term often misunderstood by even experienced lawyers and judges, yet its explanation is really simple if you apply common sense. You may remember the children’s story about Chicken Licken, who said that Henny Penny said that Turkey Lurkey said, "The sky is falling." Dare we allow our courts (judges or juries) to infer from such a statement that the sky, indeed, is falling? After all, Chicken Licken isn’t reporting what he, himself, knows. He is merely repeating an out-of-court statement made by a person who is not in court and therefore is not subject to being cross-examined on the truth of what the out-of-court declarant (in this case Turkey Lurkey) allegedly said. We cannot be certain what Turkey Lurkey may have said about the sky or even if he said anything at all about it, since Turkey Lurkey isn’t in court to speak in person and be cross-examined on his testimony to determine the truth of it. Such statements are hearsay and are generally inadmissible. They are only generally inadmissible, because in all American jurisdictions there are exceptions to the hearsay rule. These exceptions go beyond the scope of this free legal dictionary but can be found in the local rules of evidence for your jurisdiction. Just remember that in general Chicken Licken cannot testify in court (or in any document filed with the court) about the condition of the sky unless he is saying so of his own knowledge. The attempt to establish a fact on the basis of what someone else said when that someone else is not in court and cannot be cross-examined is generally disallowed by the hearsay rule (subject to certain exceptions you will want to learn from your local evidence rules and commit to memory before you go to trial).

Hung Jury

When a jury cannot reach a verdict, i.e., when the vote is insufficient to reach a fixed conclusion, the jury is said to be hung.