writ of error

American  

noun

Law.

1. a writ issued by an appellate court to the court of record where a case was tried, requiring that the record of the trial be sent to the appellate court for examination of alleged errors.

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Example Sentences

For a defendant who has served the entire sentence, a court can issue a writ of error coram nobis, which removes a conviction as a result of a change in the facts or the law.

From New York Times • Dec. 15, 2014

Upon a writ of error, the whole record is open for inspection; and if any error be found in it, the judgment is reversed.

From Report of the Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Opinions of the Judges Thereof, in the Case of Dred Scott versus John F.A. Sandford December Term, 1856. by Howard, Benjamin C.

This writ of error was returnable on the second Monday of January, 1832, and was attested by the Honorable Henry Baldwin, one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.

From Opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, at January Term, 1832, Delivered by Mr. Chief Justice Marshall in the Case of Samuel A. Worcester, Plaintiff in Error, versus the State of Georgia With a Statement of the Case, Extracted from the Records of the Supreme Court of the United States by Marshall, John

Very important questions of law will be presented, and your honor is aware that in a criminal case in this Court there is no writ of error.

From Trial of the Officers and Crew of the Privateer Savannah, on the Charge of Piracy, in the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York by Warburton, A. F.

Mr. Blair had just rendered the bill of costs: $63.18 for writ of error and $91.50 for printing briefs; total, $154.68.

From The Life of Lyman Trumbull by White, Horace