1. A legal notice that a lawsuit or prosecution has been abandoned. [Cases: Pretrial Procedure 511. C.J.S. Dismissal and Nonsuit §§ 30–32, 34–35.]
2. A docket entry showing that the plaintiff or the prosecution has abandoned the action. — Often shortened to nolle. [Cases: Criminal Law 303.5–303.35. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 419–424.]
“In America the term [nolle prosequi] bears the same meaning as in England, with one exception. The attorney-general has not the same discretion with which English law invests him. Although in some States the prosecuting officer may enter a nolle prosequi at his discretion, in others the leave of the court must be obtained.” 17 Encyclopaedia Britannica 546 (9th ed. 1907).
“Nolle prosequi is a formal entry on the record by the prosecuting officer by which he declares that he will not prosecute the case further, either as to some of the counts of the indictment, or as to part of a divisible count, or as to some of the persons accused, or altogether. It is a judicial determination in favor of accused and against his conviction, but it is not an acquittal, nor is it equivalent to a pardon.” 22A C.J.S. Criminal Law § 419, at 1 (1989).
nolle prosequi (nahl-ee prahs-[schwa]-kwI), vb. To abandon (a suit or prosecution); to have (a case) dismissed by a nolle prosequi (the state nolle prosequied the charges against Johnson). — Often shortened to nolle pros; nol-pros; nol-pro. [Cases: Criminal Law 303.5–303.35; Pretrial Procedure 501. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 419–424; Dismissal and Nonsuit§§ 2–7, 9–10, 12, 14–16, 24.]
