Trial

In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, which may occur before a judge, jury, or other designated trier of fact, aims to achieve a resolution to their dispute.

Types of trial divided by the finder of fact

Where the trial is held before a group of members of the community, it is called a jury trial. Where the trial is held solely before a judge, it is called a bench trial.

Bench trials are often resolved faster. Furthermore, a favorable ruling for one party in a bench trial will frequently lead the other party to offer a settlement.

Hearings before administrative bodies may have many of the features of a trial before a court, but are typically not referred to as trials.

An appellate proceeding is also generally not deemed a trial, because such proceedings are usually restricted to review of the evidence presented before the trial court, and do not permit the introduction of new evidence.

List of Batman: The Animated Series episodes

Batman: The Animated Series is an American television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, which was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and originally aired on Fox from 1992 to 1995; lasting 85 episodes. The series has since aired in re-runs on various other broadcast and cable networks, including The WB, Cartoon Network, Toon Disney and The Hub. Each episode is approximately 22 minutes long, excluding commercials.

The series is part of what has become known as the DC animated universe, which consists of eight animated television shows and four animated films, largely surrounding DC Comics characters and their respective mythos. This includes Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, The Zeta Project, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

Episode list

This article lists the episodes in their production order, in accordance with the order the series was released on DVD; rather than by their original airdates, the former was often preferred by fans due to establishment, story flow, consistency, character introduction, etc.

American Association for Justice

The American Association for Justice (AAJ), formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) is a nonprofit advocacy and lobbying organization for plaintiff's lawyers in the United States. AAJ's stated mission is to "promote a fair and effective justice system." Focused on opposing tort reform, the organization is one of the Democratic Party's most influential political allies.

History

In 1946, a group of plaintiffs' attorneys involved in workers' compensation litigation founded the National Association of Claimants' Compensation Attorneys (NACCA). As their work broadened beyond workers' compensation, in 1960 the NACCA changed its name to the National Association of Claimants' Counsel of America, and four years later, to the American Trial Lawyers Association. In 1972, these groups merged as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA). In 1977, ATLA's headquarters moved from Boston to Washington, D.C.

In 2006, ATLA became the American Association for Justice (AAJ). Around the same time, a group of attorneys quietly began forming a competitor organization to AAJ. The competitor organization called itself The American Trial Lawyers Association, or TheATLA. TheATLA solicited thousands of AAJ's members to join. AAJ filed suit to force TheATLA to drop the name, arguing it was confusing AAJ members and infringing a trademark held by AAJ.

Witchcraft

Witchcraft (also called witchery or spellcraft) broadly means the practice of, and belief in, magical skills and abilities that are able to be exercised individually by designated social groups, or by persons with the necessary esoteric secret knowledge. Witchcraft is a complex concept that varies culturally and societally; therefore, it is difficult to define with precision and cross-cultural assumptions about the meaning or significance of the term should be applied with caution. Witchcraft often occupies a religious, divinatory or medicinal role, and is often present within societies and groups whose cultural framework includes a magical world view. Although witchcraft can often share common ground with related concepts such as sorcery, the paranormal, magic, superstition, necromancy, possession, shamanism, healing, spiritualism, nature worship and the occult, it is usually seen as distinct from these when examined by sociologists and anthropologists.

Concept

The concept of witchcraft and the belief in its existence have existed throughout recorded history. They have been present or central at various times, and in many diverse forms, among cultures and religions worldwide, including both "primitive" and "highly advanced" cultures, and continue to have an important role in many cultures today. Scientifically, the existence of magical powers and witchcraft are generally believed to lack credence and to be unsupported by high quality experimental testing, although individual witchcraft practices and effects may be open to scientific explanation or explained via mentalism and psychology.

Witches (Marvel Comics)

Witches is a supernatural comic book limited series that was published by Marvel Comics in 2004. Plotted by Bronwyn Carlton, with scripts by Brian Walsh, it featured art by Mike Deodato and Will Conrad.

Publication history

Marvel Comics originally green-lit this storyline in late 2000 and released promotional art for the series in 2001 at both Comic-Con International (Marvel: 2001 Official Convention Preview Book, pages 18–19) and various comic book based websites. According to those original website advertisements, Marvel had planned on releasing the series (then titled The Way of the Witches) during the last week of September 2001. Marvel Comics had planned to capitalize on the female-based television shows and movies that were popular at the time such as Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Charlie's Angels with a comic book title of their own. The three characters decided upon were mostly unused magical female characters in their universe: Jennifer Kale from the Man-Thing comic, Topaz from the Werewolf by Night comic, and Satana - the Devil's Daughter - from several of Marvel's horror comics, primarily Son of Satan, The Haunt of Horror and Vampire Tales. They were to be led by the most recognizable Marvel comic-book sorcerer, Doctor Strange, with him acting as the Charlie's Angels-esque director. Aside from the main characters, other supernatural characters that were to have appeared in the series (according to artist Mike Deodato) included: Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, Ghost Rider, Lilith (the vampire), Lilith (the demon), Moon Knight, Blade, and Daimon Hellstrom.

Witches (Discworld)

A major subset of the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett involves the witches of Lancre. They are closely based on witches in British folklore and a slightly tongue-in-cheek reinterpretation of the Triple Goddess.

Overview

Witch magic is very different from the wizard magic taught in the Unseen University, and consists largely of finding the right lever that makes everything else work. Witches rarely do any magic, in fact, relying more on common sense, hard work, and a peculiar brand of psychology known as headology. This can be taken very far - a witch's way of magically setting fire to a log of wood consists of staring at the log until it burns up from pure embarrassment. As a result, it is less energy-intensive, which means that a witch can do more than a technically equally powerful wizard. The same zen-like knowledge that gives them this ability generally discourages them from making a big deal about it, beyond refusing to take wizards seriously. Headology is more commonly used on people, like the placebo effect. Witches unironically acting with melodrama, of which cackling is an early sign, is often an indication of "going to the bad" and becoming a stereotypically wicked witch.