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Subpoena   Listen
noun
Subpoena  n.  (Written also subpena)  (Law) A writ commanding the attendance in court, as a witness, of the person on whom it is served, under a penalty; the process by which a defendant in equity is commanded to appear and answer the plaintiff's bill.
Subpoena ad testificandum. A writ used to procure the attendance of a witness for the purpose of testifying.
Subpoena duces tecum. A writ which requires a witness to attend and bring certain documents.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Subpoena" Quotes from Famous Books



... communion could tolerate, justified the interposition of authority. An exact conformity with the English custom required the legalisation of an ecclesiastical court; but the church act had subverted the dominant status of the English church. A court requires to subpoena witnesses, to be protected from contempt, to have its decrees carried out by the civil powers. Questions of ritual, such as baptism, would violate the religious opinions of other denominations. A clergyman, for burying an unbaptised child might be liable to deposition; ...
— The History of Tasmania, Volume I (of 2) • John West

... outspoken. Townsfolk and visitors alike felt that Scattergood had done ill in bringing the young man to justice—especially at such a time. He should have let sleeping dogs lie.... And when it heard that Sheriff Watts had carried a subpoena to Mavin Newton's father, compelling his presence as a witness against his own son, there arose a wind of disapproval which quite swept Scattergood from the ...
— Scattergood Baines • Clarence Budington Kelland

... had no desire to become embroiled in a dispute which might easily beget a subpoena. Still, because of his elevation to the Bench, he had not resigned the fellowship of Man, and, since he was the nearest individual to the blue taxi, he stepped to it quickly and ...
— Anthony Lyveden • Dornford Yates

... who was got off her bed, and so we staid and talked and were very merry, my she-cozen, Stradwick, being godmother. And then I left my wife to go home by coach, and I walked to the Temple about my law business, and there received a subpoena for T. Trice. I carried it myself to him at the usual house at Doctors Commons and did give it him, and so home and to bed. It cost me 20s, between the midwife and ...
— Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete • Samuel Pepys

... Napoleon could only set foot on shore he must gain the rights of Habeas Corpus.[539] And there seemed some chance of his gaining them. Very early on August 4th a man came down from London bringing a subpoena from the Court of King's Bench to compel Lord Keith and Captain Maitland to produce the person of Napoleon Bonaparte for attendance in London as witness in a trial for libel then pending. It appears that some one was to be sued for a libel on a naval officer, censuring his conduct in the West ...
— The Life of Napoleon I (Volumes, 1 and 2) • John Holland Rose

... take out a subpoena for him. He's escaped and we need another man." Mrs. Heath drew her brow in perplexed thought, then suddenly demanded: "What was the name of that young man Billy Waterburn brought to my box at the horse show? I mean the one who ...
— The Tyranny of Weakness • Charles Neville Buck

... published on April 23. Wilkes was arrested under a general warrant on April 30. On May 6 he was discharged from custody by the Court of Common Pleas, before which he had been brought by a writ of Habeas Corpus. A few days later he was served with a subpoena upon an information exhibited against him by the Attorney-General in the Court of King's Bench. He did not enter an appearance, holding, as he said, the serving him with the subpoena as a violation of the privilege of parliament. ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 1 • Boswell

... equity are not commenced as suits at law. The plaintiff prepares a bill of complaint, the facts stated in which are sworn to by himself. The bill, which contains a petition or prayer that the defendant may be summoned to make answer on oath, is filed with the clerk of the court, who issues a subpoena commanding the defendant to appear before the court on a day named. A trial may be had on the complaint and answer alone; or witnesses may be introduced by the parties. The case is argued by counsel, and a decree is pronounced ...
— The Government Class Book • Andrew W. Young

... whole of the surrounding tenantry. Now this cause was, by direction of the Lord Chancellor, to be tried at these assizes, and, in consequence, the law agents had been most industrious in bringing together, by subpoena, all the ancient authorities of the county, the aged, the blind, and the halt, to give evidence against their worthy pastor; and as it is most conducive to success in law, the keeping witnesses secure from tampering, and in good-humour with the cause, ...
— The English Spy • Bernard Blackmantle

... that such perpetrators may be indicted and brought to tryal for the same, and upon indictments being found, said committee are desired to prepare matters for the king's attorney, to attend at their tryals in the superior court, subpoena all the witnesses, and do everything necessary for bringing those murtherers to that punishment for such crimes, as the laws of God and man require." [Footnote: Records of ...
— The Emancipation of Massachusetts • Brooks Adams

... your letter. The order from the Secretary of the Navy, you said, you were in possession of. The receipt of these papers had, I presume, so far anticipated, and others this day forwarded will have substantially fulfilled, the object of a subpoena from the District Court of Richmond, requiring that those officers and myself should attend the Court in Richmond, with the letter of General Wilkinson, the answer to that letter, and the orders of the departments of War and the Navy, therein generally described. ...
— Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson - Volume I • Thomas Jefferson

... Superior or Exchequer Court of Canada, or of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec, or of any one of the Superior Courts of either of the Provinces, or to any Judge or Stipendiary Magistrate in and for the Territories, for an order that a subpoena be issued from the Court or Magistrate, commanding any person therein named to appear before you at the time and place mentioned in the subpoena, and then and there to testify to all matters within his knowledge, ...
— General Instructions For The Guidance Of Post Office Inspectors In The Dominion Of Canada • Alexander Campbell

... keep under the ship's stern, and not allow any shore boat, under any pretext, to come near us. The person alluded to proved afterwards to have been the lawyer mentioned by Lord Keith; not with a Habeas Corpus, but a subpoena for Buonaparte to attend a trial at the Court of King's Bench as a witness. He was, however, foiled: as Lord Keith avoided him, and got on board the Prometheus, off the Ramehead, where he remained until joined ...
— The Surrender of Napoleon • Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland

... arrival in this city, under a subpoena to appear and testify before the Court of which you are president, I have been indirectly and unofficially informed that the Court some time ago forwarded an invitation to me (which has not been received) to appear personally or by counsel, ...
— The Memoirs of General P. H. Sheridan, Complete • General Philip Henry Sheridan

... the reports of the proceedings for a hint as to the line of the defence. He got it the day when Repton appeared in the witness-box on a subpoena from the Crown to bear testimony to the violence of Stephen Ballantyne. He had seen Stella with her wrist bruised so that in public she could ...
— Witness For The Defense • A.E.W. Mason

... Tallifero. He wants to know if you'll consent to appear before the Joint Congressional Committee for Investigating Military Affairs. I get the feeling that if you say 'no,' they'll send a formal invitation—something on the order of a subpoena." ...
— By Proxy • Gordon Randall Garrett

... to conduct this long-needed inquiry and shall cooperate in every way to get at the truth of conditions in Occoquan through your investigation, provided you make the hearings public, subpoena all available witnesses, including men and women now prisoners at Occoquan, first granting them immunity, and provided you give counsel an opportunity to examine and cross ...
— Jailed for Freedom • Doris Stevens

... comin' out of the clerk's office, Sheriff Rutledge stepped up and read a subpoena to Mitch and me to appear before the Grand Jury in August, ...
— Mitch Miller • Edgar Lee Masters

... that his papers were to be seized; that after he had been sufficiently blackened by the hearing he would be deprived of his place; with disheartening news also that the disposition of the petition had already been determined.[32] At the same time a subpoena was served upon him at the private suit of Whately, who was under personal obligations to him, but was also a banker to the government. Certainly the heavens threatened a cloudburst with appalling ...
— Benjamin Franklin • John Torrey Morse, Jr.

... Mr. Crow, darkly. "I'll need you as a witness. I hereby subpoena you as a witness to what's goin' to happen in less'n no time. Now, Mr. Otto ...
— Anderson Crow, Detective • George Barr McCutcheon

... that of the pestiferous Mrs. Worth Buckley, his—ah—not his "old man of the sea" exactly, but his equally troublesome, middle-aged woman of the mountains. Mrs. Buckley had not attracted his notice, she had seized it, served a subpoena upon it, and his provokingly contrary memory persisted in recalling her face, probably because he so ...
— Galusha the Magnificent • Joseph C. Lincoln

... shall bring the matter forward before the Lord Mayor to-morrow, and as at present advised shall ask for an investigation with reference to a charge of fraud. I presume you will be served with a subpoena to ...
— The Way We Live Now • Anthony Trollope

... order that legislative functions may be performed."[109] Whence it was argued, in Jurney v. MacCracken[110] that the Senate had no power to punish a witness who, having been commanded to produce papers, destroyed them after service of the subpoena, because the "power to punish for contempt may never be exerted, in the case of a private citizen, solely qua punishment. * * * the power to punish ceases as soon as the obstruction has been ...
— The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation • Edward Corwin

... chill during all that time. But, though the room rustle with phantoms and menace stalk in the retrospect, I shall acquit my conscience of its burden, refusing to be bullied by the counsel of a destiny that subpoena'd me entirely ...
— At a Winter's Fire • Bernard Edward J. Capes

... Submarine submara. Submarine vessel submarsxipo. Submerge subakvi. Submission submetigxo. Submissive humila. Submit (yield) cedi. Submit submetigxi. Subordinate subulo. Subordinate suba. Suborn subacxeti. Subpoena asigno. Subscribe (to a newspaper, etc.) aboni. Subscribe (sign) subskribi. Subscribe (money) monoferi. Subscription monoferado. Subscription abono. Subsequent sekva. Subside mallevi. Subsidy helpa mono. Substance substanco. Substantial ...
— English-Esperanto Dictionary • John Charles O'Connor and Charles Frederic Hayes

... he's not insane—not enough to escape punishment, anyhow. Here the official means of execution is simple exposure to the vacuum. Now, if you want to leave Serene, you'd better do so soon, before somebody decides to subpoena ...
— The Planet Strappers • Raymond Zinke Gallun

... forthcoming expose spread mysteriously in "The Bottoms" before the paper was off the press. To avoid the coming storm, already negro malefactors and white, were "streaming" as Travers phrased it, "in dark clouds" out of town, for brief sojourns, beyond reach of the compelling subpoena, in ...
— Tramping on Life - An Autobiographical Narrative • Harry Kemp

... solicitous, solstice, somnolent, sophisticated, sophistry, sorcery, spasmodic, specious, spirituelle, splenetic, spontaneity, sporadic, spurious, stipend, stipulate, stoical, stricture, stringency, stultify, stupendous, sublimity, suborn, subpoena, subsidiary, subsidy, substratum, subtend, subterfuge, subterranean, subvention, subvert, sudorific, supercilious, supernal, supervene, supine, supposititious, surreptitious, surrogate, surveillance, susceptible, ...
— The Century Vocabulary Builder • Creever & Bachelor

... ordination, bull, ex cathedra pronouncement [Lat.], edict, decretal^, dispensation, prescription, brevet, placit^, ukase, ukaz [Rus.], firman, hatti- sherif^, warrant, passport, mittimus, mandamus, summons, subpoena, nisi prius [Lat.], interpellation, citation; word, word of command; mot d'ordre [Fr.]; bugle call, trumpet call; beat of drum, tattoo; order of the day; enactment &c (law) 963; plebiscite &c (choice) 609. V. command, order, decree, ...
— Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget

... specialists are often called to give evidence of a skilled nature. Thus the hospital surgeon, the nerve specialist, or the mental consultant may be served with a subpoena to appear at court on a certain date to give evidence. The evidence of such skilled observers will, it is supposed, carry greater weight with the jury than would the evidence of an ...
— Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology • W. G. Aitchison Robertson

... keep a little quiet now till he is out of the jail. Fine it would look if he was really to bribe these vermin to bring actions against me, and subpoena himself and that ...
— It Is Never Too Late to Mend • Charles Reade

... consultum[Lat]; precept; prescript, rescript; writ, ordination, bull, ex cathedra pronouncement[Lat], edict, decretal[obs3], dispensation, prescription, brevet, placit[obs3], ukase, ukaz [Russian], firman, hatti-sherif[obs3], warrant, passport, mittimus[Law@crim], mandamus, summons, subpoena, nisi prius[Lat], interpellation, citation; word, word of command; mot d'ordre[Fr]; bugle call, trumpet call; beat of drum, tattoo; order of the day; enactment &c. (law) 963; plebiscite &c. (choice) 609. V. command, order, decree, enact, ...
— Roget's Thesaurus

... attend,—at the loss of his day's work. When he reached the court, which he did long before the judge had taken his seat, he found it to be almost impossible to effect an entrance. He gave his name to some officer about the place, but learned that his name was altogether unknown. He showed his subpoena and was told that he must wait till he was called. "Where must I wait?" asked the angry radical. "Anywhere," said the man in authority; "but you can't force your way in here." Then he remembered that no one had as yet paid so dearly for this struggle, no ...
— Lady Anna • Anthony Trollope

... told that fellow downstairs it wasn't necessary to announce me by telephone. Silly arrangement, I say. Why the devil should they think everybody's a thief or a book agent or a constable with a subpoena? He knows I'm one of the family. I'm likely to run in any time, I told him, and—Oh, I say, I'm not butting ...
— The Hollow of Her Hand • George Barr McCutcheon

... the Lent Assizes at Winchester had come. Sir Philip had procured the best legal assistance for his nephew, but in criminal cases, though the prisoner was allowed the advice of counsel, the onus of defence rested upon himself. To poor Anne's dismay, a subpoena was sent to her, as well as to her uncle, to attend as a witness at the trial. Sir Philip was too anxious to endure to remain at a distance from Winchester, and they travelled in his coach, Sir Edmund Nutley escorting them on horseback, while Lucy was left with her mother, ...
— A Reputed Changeling • Charlotte M. Yonge

... ante-bellum times, we called "Sovereign States"—and some of them did not come voluntarily. They were brought by the process of that court. And when one State of the Union has a question of juridical cognizance against another State of the Union, it must come to that court. A subpoena is sent, and it is brought into that court just like an individual, and it must, by the constitution of this country, submit its rights and territorial jurisdiction, and the right which accompanies that territorial jurisdiction, to the decision ...
— Modern Eloquence: Vol II, After-Dinner Speeches E-O • Various

... the Spaniard, Dutch, and Dane; In short, an universal shoal of shades From Otaheite's isle to Salisbury Plain, Of all climes and professions, years and trades, Ready to swear against the good king's reign,[hd] Bitter as clubs in cards are against spades:[530] All summoned by this grand "subpoena," to Try if kings mayn't be damned like me ...
— The Works of Lord Byron, Volume 4 • Lord Byron

... government truly deplores. The witness has been suddenly called away. In fact, Your Honor—hem!—in short, I have been informed by the sheriff that the witness cannot answer to the summons of the court. He is disqualified from subpoena. In fact, Your Honor, the ...
— McClure's Magazine, January, 1896, Vol. VI. No. 2 • Various



Words linked to "Subpoena" :   subpoena ad testificandum, subpoena duces tecum, jurisprudence, process



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