Lay
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence · Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
V. A term in pleading, meaning to allege or state. Thus to lay an offence, or a wrong, is to allege the act for which the indictment or declaration seeks redress. To lay damages is to aver the amount of damages plaintiff has sustained. To lay the venue is to state the county in which the transaction in suit occurred, and where, therefore, the cause must be tried. It is sometimes used erroneously for lie, q.v., as, to say that " the action would not lay."