§ 1 Definitions
§ 2 Chief medical examiner; qualifications; appointment; powers and duties; district medical examiners
§ 2A State and local multidisciplinary child fatality review teams
§ 3 Duty to report deaths; failure to report
§ 4 Investigation; transportation of bodies
§ 4A Death resulting from single-vehicle accident; blood sample analysis; liability of medical examiner
§ 5 Cooperation with office of chief medical examiner
§ 6 Unmarked human remains; notice to office of chief medical examiner; reasonable attempt to identify; notification of commission on Indian affairs when remains suspected to be 100 years old or more
§ 7 Attorney general; notice of circumstances of death
§ 8 Inquests
§ 9 Accidental deaths; public conveyances; transcript of inquest
§ 10 Report of findings by court
§ 11 Persons charged with crime; arrest
§ 12 Embalming fluid; restriction on use
§ 13 Release of body; pronouncement of death
§ 14 Bodies intended for cremation or burial at sea; authorization; fees
§ 15 Personal property of deceased; disposition
§ 16 Required reports relating to certain controlled substances; sole cause of death; exposure of children

Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws > Chapter 38 - Medical Examiners and Inquests

  • Acquittal:
    1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
    2. A verdict of "not guilty."
     
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • True bill: Another word for indictment.