nolle prosn.
/ˌnɒlɪ ˈprɒs/, /ˌnəʊlɪ ˈprɒs/, U.S. /ˈnoʊli ˈprɑs/, /ˈnɑli ˈprɑs/ Chiefly U.S. Law.
= nolle prosequi n.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > action of courts in claims or grievances > [phrase] > abandoned
nolle prosequi1681
nolle pros1713
1713 Mod. Cases Queen's-Bench 262 He doubted of the Effect of a Nolle Pros'..if it discharged the Indictment, or only put the Defendant without Day.
1872 Rep. Joint Sel. Comm. Late Insurrectionary States 240 I appealed to the judge..to permit the solicitor to enter a nolle pros.
1895 Denver Times 5 Mar. 1/3 John Doyle was dismissed on a nolle pros in both cases against him.
1945 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 59 340 Two defendants had been previously dismissed on account of death, whereas nolle pros were granted to seven defendants.
1948 Chicago Daily News 7 May 16/1 I can't stop the state from taking a nolle prosse.
1957 Industr. & Labor Relations Rev. 10 201/2 In the Colorado case a nolle pros order was entered by the government.
2001 Fulton County Daily Rep. (Nexis) 17 Mar. While judges must approve a nolle pros, the request must come from the prosecutor.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
nolle prosv.
/ˌnɒlɪ ˈprɒs/, /ˌnəʊlɪ ˈprɒs/, U.S. /ˈnoʊli ˈprɑs/, /ˈnɑli ˈprɑs/ Originally and chiefly U.S. Law.
transitive. To relinquish (a suit, indictment, etc.) by a nolle prosequi.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > action of courts in claims or grievances > carry on or institute (an action) [verb (transitive)] > abandon or dismiss a suit
discontinue?1435
to throw out1604
perempt1726
nolle pros1845
nolle1859
1845 J. J. Hooper Suggs xi. 38 I would ‘nol pros.’ the case, if I were you, and let this grief-stricken old man go home to his dying children.
1880 G. A. Pierce Zachariah 436 Judge Spalding informed Zach..that the case could be ‘nolle prossed’ when it came up.
1905 Springfield (Mass.) Weekly Republican 15 Dec. 2 The court heard petitions for a new trial, and upon these being granted the cases were nol prossed and the brothers set free.
1956 A. MacLeish Let. 5 July (1983) 385 The best..way of accomplishing that objective rapidly is to persuade the new Attorney General to nol pros the indictment.
1991 Conjunctions 16 333 The case for bunko sales would [be] nolle prossed, and the dragqueen could hang on to the ten percent premium she doubtlessly earned skulling enough Dauphine Street cruisers to get lockjaw.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1713v.1845