About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

6 Me. L. Rev. 199 (1912-1913)
The Nolle Prosequi in Criminal Cases

handle is hein.journals/maine6 and id is 207 raw text is: MAINE LAW REVIEW VoL. VI FEBRUARY, 1913 No. 4 THE NOLLE PROSEQUI IN CRIMAL CASES BY Ex CHIEF JUSTICE EMERY. T HE 'olle prosequi in criminal cases, as the term itself indicates, is a declaration of record by the prosecuting officer of the gov- ernment (Attorney General, or County Attorney, or District At- torney) that Ie will no further prosecute the particular complaint or indictment or some designated part thereof. In England the power of olle prosequi is exclusively with the Attorney General or his deputy who exercises it without interference from the court. An amusing and yet forceful illustration of this is given in Camp- bell's Lives of the Lord Chief Justices, Vol. 3, page 59. One John Atkins was being prosecuted before Lord Chief Justice Holt for sedition, when one of his friends visited the Chief Justice and said I come to you a prophet from the Lord God who has sent me to thee and would have thee grant a 'wlle prosequi for John Atkins, His ser- vant, whom thou has castinto prison. The Chief Justice replied Thou art a false prophet and a lying knave. If the Lord God had sent thee it would have been to the Attorney General for He knows it belongeth not to the Chief Justice to grant a volic proscqui: but I, as Chief Justice, can grant a warrant to commit thee to bear him com- pany, which he did. With us, the functions of the English Attorney General are per- formed by prosecuting officers, known in different states by the *Note. This article is written and published at the request of several law- yers and laymen.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most