criminal law and procedure

malicious prosecution

Malicious prosecution is the filing of a lawsuit for an improper purpose, and without grounds or probable cause. The improper lawsuit may either be civil or criminal in nature. To remedy an act of malicious prosecution, an alleged victim...

malum in se

Malum in se is a concept in criminal law referring to an inherently immoral act, regardless of whether the action is criminalized. Common examples of malum in se actions include arson, murder, and rape. Malum in se offenses are usually based...

malum prohibitum

Malum prohibitum is an act that is not inherently immoral but is prohibited by statute. Common examples of malum prohibitum actions include jaywalking and regulatory violations. Malum prohibitum offenses are generally found in statutes and...

manslaughter

Manslaughter is the act of killing another human being without malice. It is a general intent crime that is distinct from murder because it requires less culpability. See Homicide.

Under both the common law and the...

marital privilege

Marital privilege, also known as spousal privilege, is recognized by the law of evidence and the Supreme Court to protect private spousal communications and prevent any testimony against a spouse from being used in judicial proceedings....

materiality

Materiality refers to the significance or importance of a piece of evidence or information in relation to a particular legal matter. It is a concept that is commonly used in every legal field. Overall, materiality revolves around the...

matter of law

A matter of law, or question of law, is a determination of the applicable law as opposed to a matter of fact. Matter of law is seen in judgments as a matter of law where a judge makes a decision applying the relevant laws to irrefutable...

Matthew Shepard Act

The Matthew Shepard Act, 18 U.S.C. § 249, also known as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was enacted to expand previous hate crime legislation and to provide more funding and resources to investigate and...

mayhem

Mayhem, or to maim, is a felony at common law. Mayhem usually requires a general intent to maim or cause bodily harm accompanied by an unlawful act of physical force that either permanently dismembered the victim or disabled the use of some...

McNaghten Rule

McNaghten Rule (more commonly spelled M’Naghten rule) was the first, and is still one of the four main tests jurisdictions use to determine whether a criminal defendant can claim insanity as a defense to a crime.

The test...

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