KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

783

MISERERE

MISCARRIAGE

son not authorized by the owner or person to whom the carrier or warehouseman is bound by his contract to deliver it. Cleve land, etc., R. Co. v. Potts, 33 Ind. App. 564, 71 N. E. 689; Forbes v. Boston & L. R. Co., 133 Mass. 156. MISDEMEANANT. A person guilty of a misdemeanor; one sentenced to punish ment upon conviction of a misdemeanor. See FIRST-GLASS MISDEMEANANT. MISDEMEANOR. In criminal law. A general name for criminal offenses of every sort, punishable by indictment or special proceedings, which do not in law amount to the grade of felony. A misdemeanor is an act committed or omit ted in violation of a public law either forbidding or commanding it. This general definition, how ever, comprehends both "crimes" and "misde meanors," which, properly speaking, are mere synonymous terms; though, in common usage, the word "crimes" is made to denote such of fenses as are of a deeper and more atrocious dye; while smaller faults and omissions of less consequence are comprised under the milder term of "misdemeanors" only. In the English law, "misdemeanor" is generally used in contra distinction to "felony;" and misdemeanors com prehend all indictable offenses which do not amount to felony, as libels, conspiracies, at tempts, and solicitations to commit felonies, etc. Brown. And see People v. Upson, 79 Hun, 87, 29 N. Y. Supp. 615; In re Bergin, 31 Wis. 386; Kelly v. People, 132 111, 363, 24 N. E. 56; State v. Hunter, 67 Ala. 83; Walsh v. People, 65 111. 65, 16 Am. Rep. 569. MISDESCRIPTION. An error or falsity in the description of the subject-matter of a contract which deceives one of the parties to his injury, or is misleading in a material or substantial point. MISDIRECTION. In practice. An er ror made by a judge in instructing the jury upon the trial of a cause. MISE. The issue in a writ of right. When the tenant in a writ of right pleads that his title is better than the demandant's, he is said to join the mdse on the mere right. Also expenses; costs; disbursements in an action. —Mise-money. Money paid by way of con tract or composition to purchase any liberty, etc. Blount. Misera est servitus, nbi jus est vagum aut incecrtnm. It is a wretched state of slavery which subsists where the law is vague or uncertain. 4 Inst. 245; Broom, Max. 150. MISERABILE DEPOSITUM. Lat. In the civil law. The name of an Involuntary deposit, made under pressing necessity; as, for instance, shipwreck, fire, or other inevi table calamity. Poth. Proc. Civile, pt. 5, c. 1, % 1; Code La. 2935. MISERERE. The name and first word of one of the penitential psalms, being that

weeks after conception. Between that time, and before the expiration of the sixth month, when the child may possibly live, it is termed "abortion." When the delivery takes place soon after the sixth month, it is denominated "premature labor." But the criminal act of destroying the foetus at any time before birth is termed, in law, "pro curing miscarriage." Chit. Med. Jur. 410. See Smith v. State, 33 Me. 59, 54 Am. Dec. 607; State v. Howard, 32 Vt. 402; Mills v. Com., 13 Pa. 632; State v. Crook, 16 Utah, 212, 51 Pac. 1091. In practice. As used in the statute of frauds, ("debt, default, or miscarriage of an other,") this term means any species of un lawful conduct or wrongful act for which the doer could be held liable in a civil ac tion. Gansey v. Orr, 173 Mo. 532, 73 S. W. 477. MISCEGENATION. Mixture of races; marriage between persons of different races; as between a white person and a negro. MISCHARGE. An erroneous charge; a charge, given by a court to a jury, which in volves errors for which the judgment may be reversed. MISCHIEF. In legislative parlance, the word is often used to signify the evil or danger which a statute is intended to cure or avoid. In the phrase "malicious mischief," (which see,) it imports a wanton or reckless injury to persons or property. MISCOGNISANT. Ignorant; uninform ed. The word is obsolete. MISCONDUCT. Any unlawful conduct on the part of a person concerned in the ad ministration of justice which is prejudicial to the rights of parties or to the right deter mination of the cause; as "misconduct of jurors," "misconduct of an arbitrator." The term is also used to express a dereliction from duty, injurious to another, on the part of one employed in a professional capacity, as an attorney at law, (Stage v. Stevens, 1 Denio [N. Y.] 267,) or a public officer, (State v. Leach, 60 Me. 58, 11 Am. Rep. 172.) In practice. An Improper continuance; want of proper form in a continuance; the same with "discontin uance." Cowell. MISCREANT. In old English law. An apostate; an unbeliever; one who totally re nounced Christianity. 4 Bl. Comm. 44. IflSDATE. A false or erroneous date affixed to a paper or document. MISDELIVERY. The delivery of prop erty by a carrier or warehouseman to a per MISCONTINUANCE.