rebuttal, n. 1. In-court contradiction of an adverse party’s evidence. 2. The time given to a party to present contradictory evidence or arguments. Cf. CASE-IN-CHIEF. [Cases: Criminal Law 683; Federal Civil Procedure 2015; Trial 62. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 1219; Trial § 195.] “Rebuttal is the hardest argument to make in any court. In the […]
narratio (n[schwa]-ray-shee-oh), n. [Latin “narrative”] Hist. A declaration, complaint, or petition in which the plaintiff sets out the facts of a case; an oral narrative by the plaintiff of the facts and legal arguments on which the claim is based. • The term has also been called the “conte” or “tale.” — Abbr. narr. “[T]he
vitiate (vish-ee-ayt), vb. 1. To impair; to cause to have no force or effect ( the new statute vitiates any common-law argument that the plaintiffs might have). 2. To make void or voidable; to invalidate either completely or in part (fraud vitiates a contract). 3. To corrupt morally (Mr. Lawrence complains that his children were
wedge principle. The principle that an act is wrong in a specific instance if, when raised to a general level of conduct, it would injure humanity. “[T]here is the familiar argument from the ‘wedge principle,’ which is used to deny the possibility of looking at particular circumstances in applying moral rules.” Glanville Williams, The Sanctity