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Magistrate (See U.S.
Magistrate Judge.) - Judicial officer exercising some of the
functions of a judge. It also refers in a general way to a judge.
Malfeasance - The
commission of an unlawful act.
Malicious prosecution - An
action instituted with intention of injuring the defendant and
without probable cause, and which terminates in favor of the
person prosecuted.
Malpractice - Any
professional misconduct.
Manslaughter - The
unlawful killing of another without intent to kill; either
voluntary (upon a sudden impulse); or involuntary (during the
commission of an unlawful act not ordinarily expected to result in
great bodily harm). (See also murder.)
Marshal - The executive
officer of the federal court.
Martindale-Hubbell Law - A
publication of several volumes which contains names, addresses,
Director specialties, and rating of United States lawyers; also
includes digests of state and foreign statutory law.
Mediation - A form of
alternative dispute resolution in which the parties bring their
dispute to a neutral third party, who helps them agree on a
settlement.
Memorandum - An informal
note or instrument embodying something the parties desire to have
in written evidence.
Memorialized - In writing.
Merger - The absorption of
one thing or right into another.
Minor - A person under the
age of legal competence.
Minute book - A book
maintained by the courtroom deputy (bailiff), which contains
minute entries of all hearings and trial conducted by the judge.
Minutes - Memorandum of a
transaction or proceeding.
Miranda warning - Requirement
that police tell a suspect in their custody of his or her
constitutional rights before they question him or her. So named as
a result of the Miranda v. Arizona ruling by the United States
Supreme Court.
Misdemeanor - A criminal
offense lesser than a felony and generally punishable by fine or
by imprisonment other than in a penitentiary.
Misfeasance - Improper
performance of an act which a person might lawfully do.
Mistrial - An invalid
trial, caused by fundamental error. When a mistrial is declared,
the trial must start again from the selection of the jury.
Mitigating circumstances -
Those which do not constitute a justification or excuse for an
offense but which may be considered as reasons for reducing the
degree of blame.
Mittimus - The name of an
order in writing, issuing from a court and directing the sheriff
or other officer to convey a person to a prison, asylum, or
reformatory, and directing the jailer or other appropriate
official to receive and safely keep the person until his or her
fate shall be determined by due course of law.
Mitigation - A reduction,
abatement, or diminution of a penalty or punishment imposed by
law.
Moot - A moot case or a
moot point is one not subject to a judicial determination because
it involves an abstract question or a pretended controversy that
has not yet actually arisen or has already passed. Mootness
usually refers to a court's refusal to consider a case because the
issue involved has been resolved prior to the court's decision,
leaving nothing that would be affected by the court's decision.
Motion
- An application made to a court or judge which requests a ruling
or order in favor of the applicant.
Motion in Limine - A
motion made by counsel requesting that information which might be
prejudicial not be allowed to be heard in a case.
Murder - The unlawful
killing of a human being with deliberate intent to kill: (1)
murder in the first degree is characterized by premeditation; (2)
murder in the second degree is characterized by a sudden and
instantaneous intent to kill or to cause injury without caring
whether the injury kills or not.
Mutual assent - A meeting
of the minds; agreement.
