AFFIDAVIT

AFFIDAVIT

    2.2.18  

AFFIDAVIT, practice. An oath or affirmation reduced to writing, sworn or affirmed to before some officer who has authority to administer it. It differs from a deposition in this, that in the latter the opposite party has had an opportunity to cross-examine the witness, whereas an affidavit is always taken ex parte. Gresl. Eq. Ev. 413. Vide Harr. Dig. h. t.

2. Affidavit to hold to bail, is in many cases required before the defendant can be arrested; such affidavit must be made by a person who is acquainted with the fact, and must state, 1st, an

ALIENAGE, ALIENATION

ALIENAGE, ALIENATION

    2.2.18  

ALIENAGE. The condition or state of alien.

ALIENATE, aliene, alien. This is a generic term applicable to the various methods of transfering property from one person to another. Lord Coke, says, (1 Inst. 118 b,) alien cometh of the verb alienate, that is, alienum facere vel ex nostro dominio in alienum trawferre sive rem aliquam in dominium alterius transferre. These methods vary, according to the nature of the property to be conveyed and the particular objects the conveyance is designed to accomplish. It has been held, that under a prohibition to alienate, long leases are comprehended. 2 Dow's Rep. 210.

APPEAL

APPEAL

    1.2.18  

APPEAL, English crim. law. The accusation of a person, in a legal form, for a crime committed by him; or, it is the lawful declaration of another man's crime, before a competent judge, by one who sets his name to the declaration, and undertakes to prove it, upon the penalty which may ensue thereon. Vide Co. Litt. 123 b, 287 b; 6 Burr. R. 2643, 2793; 2 W. Bl. R. 713; 1 B. & A. 405. Appeals of murder, as well as of treason, felony, or other offences, together with wager of battle, are abolished by stat. 59 Geo. M. c. 46.

ATTACHMENT, TO ATTACH, ATTACHMENT OF PRIVILEGE

ATTACHMENT, TO ATTACH, ATTACHMENT OF PRIVILEGE

    1.2.18  

TO ATTACH, crim. law, practice. To an attachment for contempt for the non-take or apprehend by virtue of the order of a writ or precept, commonly called an attachment. It differs from an arrest in this, that he who arrests a man, takes him to a person of higher power to be disposed of; but be who attaches, keeps the party attached, according to the exigency of his writ, and brings him into court oh the day assigned. Kitch. 279; Bract. lib. 4; Fleta, lib. 5, c. 24; 17 S. & R. 199.

ATTACHE'. Connected with, attached to. This word is used to signify those persons who are attached to a foreign legation. An attache is a public minister within the meaning of the Act of April 30, 1790, s. 37, 1 Story's L. U. S. 89, which protects from violence "the person of an ambassador or other public minister." 1 Bald. 240 Vide 2 W. C. C. R. 205; 4 W. C. C. R. 531; 1 Dall. 117; 1 W. C. C. R. 232; 4 Dall. 321. Vide Ambassador; Consul; Envoy; Minister.

AGREEMENT

AGREEMENT

    24.1.18  

 AGREEMENT, contract. The consent of two or more persons concurring, respecting the transmissiou of some property, right or benefit, with a view of contracting an obligation. Bac. Ab. h.t.; Com. Dig. h.t.; Vin. Ab. h.t.; Plowd. 17; 1 Com. Contr. 2; 5 East's R. 16. It will be proper to consider, 1, the requisites of an agreement; 2, the kinds of agreements; 3, how they are annulled.

2. – 1. To render an agreement complete six things must concur; there must be, 1, a person able to contract; 2, a person able to be contracted with; 3, a thing to be contracted for; 4, a lawful consideration, or quid pro quo; 5, words to express the agreement; 6, the assent of the contracting parties. Plowd. 161; Co. Litt. 35, b.

ACCESS, ACCESSORY CONTRACT

ACCESS, ACCESSORY CONTRACT

    24.1.18  

ACCESS, persons. Approach, or the means or power of approaching. Sometimes by access is understood sexual intercourse; at other times the opportunity of communicating together so that sexual intercourse may have taken place, is also called access. 1 Turn. & R. 141.

2. In this sense a man who can readily be in company with his wife, is said to have access to her; and in that case, her issue are presumed to be his issue. But this presumption may be rebutted by positive evidence that no sexual intercourse took place. lb.

3. Parents are not allowed to prove non-access, for the purpose of bastardizing the issue of the wife; nor will their declarations be received after their deaths, to prove the want of access, with a like intent. 1 P. A. Bro. R. App. xlviii.; Rep. tem. Hard. 79; Bull. N. P. 113; Cowp. R. 592; 8 East, R. 203; 11 East, R. 133. 2 Munf. R. 242; 3 Munf. R. 599; 7 N. S. 553; 4 Hayw R. 221, 3 Hawks, R 623 1 Ashm. R. 269; 6 Binn. R. 283; 3 Paige's R. 129; 7 N. S. 548. See Shelf. on Mar. & Div. 711; and Paternity.

ABORTION

ABORTION

    24.1.18  

ABORTION, med jur. and criminal law. The expulsion of the foetus before the seventh mouth of utero-gestation, or before it is viable. q. v.

2. The causes of this accident are referable either to the mother, or to the foetus and its dependencies. The causes in the mother may be: extreme nervous susceptibility, great debility, plethora, faulty conformation, and the like; and it is frequently induced immediately by intense mental emotion. The causes seated in the foetus are its death, rupture of the membranes, &c.

3. It most frequently occurs between the 8th and 12th weeks of gestation. When abortion is produced with a malicious design, it becomes a misdemeanor, at common law, 1 Russell, 553; and the party causing it may be indicted and punished.

ADVERSE POSSESSION

ADVERSE POSSESSION

    24.1.18  

ADVERSE POSSESSION, title to lands. The enjoyment of land, or such estate as lies in grant, under such circumstances as indicate that such enjoyment has been commenced and contiuued, under an assertion or color of right on the part of the possessor. 3 East, R. 394; 1 Pick. Rep. 466; 1 Dall. R. 67; 2 Serg. & Rawle, 527; 10 Watts R, 289; 8 Con R. 440; 3 Penn. 132; 2 Aik. 364; 2 Watts, 23; 9, John. 174; 18 John. 40, 355; 5 Pet. 402; 4 Bibb, 550. Actual possession is a pedis possessio which can be only of ground enclosed, and only such possession can a wrongdoer have. He can have no constructive possession. 7 Serg. & R. 192; 3 Id. 517; 2 Wash. C. Rep. 478, 479.

2. When the possession or enjoyment has been adverse for twenty years, of which the jury are to judge from the circumstances the law raises the presumption of a grant. Ang. on Wat. Courses, 85, et seq. But this presumption arises only when the use or occupation would otherwise have been unlawful. 3 Greenl. R. 120; 6 Binn. R. 416; 6 Cowen, R. 617, 677; Cowen, R. 589; 4 S. & R. 456. See 2 Smith's Lead. Cas. 307-416.

ALABAMA

ALABAMA

    24.1.18  

ALABAMA. The name of one of the new states of the United States of America. This state was admitted into the Union by the resolution of congress, approved December 14th, 1819, 3 Sto. L. U. S. 1804, by which it is resolved that the state of Alabama shall be one, and is hereby declared to be one of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever. The convention which framed the constitution in this state, assembled at the town of Huntsville on Monday the fifth day of July, 1819, and continued in session by adjournment, until the second day of August, 1819, when the constitution was adopted.

2. The powers of the government are divided by the constitution into three distinct, departments; and each of them confided to a separate body of magistracy, to wit: those which are legislative, to one; those which are executive, to another; and those which are judicial, to a third. Art. 2,

AGE

AGE

    24.1.18  

AGE. The time when the law allows persons to do acts which, for want of years, they were prohibited from doing before. See Coop. Justin. 446.

2. For males, before they arrive at fourteen years they are said not to be of discretion; at that age they may consent to marriage and choose a guardian. Twenty-one years is full age for all private purposes, and the may then exercise their rights as citizens by voting for public officers; and are eligible to all offices, unless otherwise provided for in the constitution. At 25, a man may be elected a representative in Congress; at 30, a senator; and at 35, he may be chosen president of the United States. He is liable to serve in the militia from 18 to 45. inclusive, unless exempted for some particular reason.

3. As to females, at 12, they arrive at years of discretion and may consent to marriage; at 14, they may choose a guardian; and 21, as in males, is fun Age, when they may exercise all the rights which belong to their sex.

ADMISSION, ADMISSIONS...

ADMISSION, ADMISSIONS...

    24.1.18  

ADMISSION, in corporations or companies. The act of the corporation or company by which an individual acquires the rights of a member of such corporation or company.

2. In trading and joint stock corporations no vote of admission is requisite; for any person who owns stock therein, either by original subscription or by conveyance, is in general entitled to, and cannot be refused, the rights and privileges of a member. 3 Mass. R. 364; Doug. 524; 1 Man. & Ry. 529.

3. All that can be required of the person demanding a transfer on the books, is to prove to the corporation his right to the property. See 8 Pick. 90.

ADMINISTER, ADMINISTERING, ADMIINISTRATOR

ADMINISTER, ADMINISTERING, ADMIINISTRATOR

    24.1.18  

TO ADMINISTER, ADMINISTERING. The stat. 9 G. IV. c. 31, S. 11, enacts "that if any person unlawfully and maliciously shall administer, or attempt to administer to any person, or shall cause to be taken by any person any poison or other destructive things," &c. every such offender, &c. In a case which arose under this statute, it was decided that to constitute the act of administering the poison, it was not absolutely necessary there should have been a delivery to the party poisoned, but that if she took it from a place where it had been put for her by the defendant, and any part of it went into her stomach, it was an administering. 4 Carr. & Payne, 369; S. C. 19 E. C. L. R. 423; 1 Moody's C. C. 114; Carr. Crim. L. 23. Vide Attempt to Persuade.

TO ADMINISTER, trusts. To do some act in relation to an estate, such as none but the owner, or some one authorized by him or by the law, in caseof his decease, could legally do. 1 Harr. Cond. Lo. R. 666.

ACT, ACTION... ACTS OF SEDERUNT

ACT, ACTION... ACTS OF SEDERUNT

    24.1.18  

ACT, civil law, contracts. A writing which states in a legal form that a thing has been said, done, or agreed. In Latin, Instrumentum. Merl. Rep.

ACT. In the legal sense, this word may be used to signify the result of a public deliberation, the decision of a prince, of a legislative body, of a council, court of justice, or a magistrate. Also, a decree, edict, law, judgment, resolve, award, determination. Also, an instrument in writing to verify facts, as act of assembly, act of congress, act of parliament, act and deed. See Webster's Dict. Acts are civil or criminal, lawful or unlawful, public or private.

MAIL

MAIL

    28.12.17  

MAIL. This word, derived from the French malle, a trunk, signifies the bag, valise, or other contrivance used in conveying through the post office, letters, packets, newspapers, pamphlets, and the like, from place to place, under the authority of the United States. The things thus carried are also called the mail.

2. The laws of the United States have provided for the punishment of robberies or wilful injuries to the mail; the act of March 3, 1825, 3 Story's Laws U. S. 1985, provides-

AUTHORITIES

AUTHORITIES

    28.12.17  

AUTHORITIES, practice. By this word is understood the citations which are made of laws, acts of the legislature, and decided cases, and opinions of elementary writers. In its more confined sense, this word means, cases decided upon solemn argument which are said to 'be authorities for similar judgments iii like cases. 1 Lilly's Reg. 219. These latter are sometimes called precedents. (q. v.) Merlin, Repertoire, mot Autorites.

ASSUMPSIT

ASSUMPSIT

    28.12.17  

ASSUMPSIT, remedies, practice., A form of action which may be defined to be an action for the recovery of damages for the non-performance of, a parol or simple contract; or, in other words, a contract not under seal, nor of record; circumstances which distinguish this remedy from others. 7 T. R. 351; 3 Johns. Cas. 60. This action differs from the action of debt; for, in legal consideration, that is for the recovery of a debt eo nomine, and in numero, and may be upon a deed as well as upon any other contract. 1 h. Bl. 554; B. N. P. 167. It differs from covenant, which, though brought for the recovery of damages, can only be supported upon a contract under seal. See Covenant.

ARSON

ARSON

    28.12.17  

ARSON, criminal law. At common law an offence of the degree of felony; and is defined by Lord Coke to be the malicious and voluntary burning of the house of another, by night or day. 3 Inst. 66.

2. In order to make this crime complete, there must be, 1st, a burning of the house, or some part of it; it is sufficient if any part be consumed, however small it may be. 9 C. & P. 45; 38 E. C. L. R. 29; 16 Mass. 105. 2d. The house burnt must; belong to another; but if a man set fire to his own house with a view to burn his neighbor's, and does so, it is at least a great misdemeanor, if not a felony. 1 Hale, P. C. 568; 2 East, P. C. 1027; 2 Russ. 487. 3d. The burning must have been both malicious and willful.

ASSIGNMENT, ASSIGNMENT OF DOWER, ASSIGNOR

ASSIGNMENT, ASSIGNMENT OF DOWER, ASSIGNOR

    28.12.17  

ASSIGNMENT, contracts. In common parlance this word signifies the transfer of all kinds of property, real, personal, and mixed, and whether the same be in possession or in action; as, a general assignment. In a more technical sense it Is usually applied to the transfer of a term for years; but it is more properly used to signify a transfer of some particular estate or interest in lands.

2. The proper technical words of an assignment are, assign, transfer, and set over; but the words grant, bargain, and sell, or any other words which will show the intent of the parties to make a complete transfer, will amount to an assignment.

3. A chose in action cannot be assigned at law, though it may be done in equity; but the assignee takes it subject to all the equity to which it was liable in the hands of the original party. 2 John. Ch. Rep. 443, and the cases there cited. 2 Wash. Rep. 233.

ASPHYXY

ASPHYXY

    28.12.17  

ASPHYXY, med. jur. A temporary suspension of the motion of the heart and arteries; swooning, fainting. This term includes persons who have been asphyxiated by submersion or drowning; by breathing mephitic gas; by the effect of lightning; by the effect of cold; by heat; by suspension or strangulation. In a legal point of view it is always proper to ascertain whether the person who has thus been deprived of his senses is the victim of another, whether the injury has been caused by accident, or whether it is. the act of the sufferer himself.

2. In a medical point of view it is important to ascertain whether the person is merely asphyxiated, or whether he is dead. The following general remarks have been made as to the efforts which ought to be made to restore a person thus situated,

ARRAIGNMENT

ARRAIGNMENT

    28.12.17  

ARRAIGNMENT, crim. law practice. Signifies the calling of the defendant to the bar of the court, to answer the accusation contained in the indictment. It consists of three parts.

2. – 1. Calling the defendant to the bar by his name, and commanding him to hold up his hand; this is done for the purpose of completely identifying the prisoner, as the person named in the indictment; the holding20up his hand is not, however, indispensable, for if the prisoner should refuse to do so, he may be identified by any admission that he is the person intended. 1 Bl. Rep. 3.