legal Definition of McNabb-Mallory rule
: a doctrine in criminal procedure: an arrestee must be brought before a magistrate without unnecessary delay in order for a confession made during detention to be admissible
Note:
In practice, the rule is not absolute. Under the U.S. Code, a delay of more than six hours in bringing an arrestee before a magistrate will not render a confession inadmissible if the delay was reasonable in light of distance and transportation.
