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.

---

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

The appeal from state courts is by writ of error, i.e. on law only; and applies as well in criminal as in civil cases.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 3 "Apollodorus" to "Aral" by Various

Mr. Wallace got him off on a writ of error.

From Sir Brook Fossbrooke, Volume II. by Lever, Charles James

The defendant-137- might have complained of this decision, as against him, and have prosecuted a writ of error, to reverse it.

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.

You can take it before the fifteen judges on a writ of error.

From The History Of The Last Trial By Jury For Atheism In England A Fragment of Autobiography Submitted for the Perusal of Her Majesty's Attorney-General and the British Clergy by Holyoake, George Jacob