Calling The Plaintiff

A formal method of causing a nonsuit to be entered, the plaintiff absenting himself from the courtroom, and the case being dismissed for his nonappearance after he has been called by the crier,

A formal method of causing a nonsuit to be. entered. When a plaintiff perceives that he has not given evidence to maintain his issue, and intends to become nonsuited, he withdraws himself; whereupon the crier is ordered to call the plaintiff, and on his failure to appear he becomes nonsuited. The phrase "let the plaintiff be called," which occurs In some of the earlier state reports, is to be explained by reference to this practice. See 3 Bla. Com. 376; 2 C. & P. 403; Porter v. Perkins, 5 Mass. 236, 4 Am. Dec. 52; Trask v. Duval, 4 Wash. C. C. 97, Fed. Cas. No. 14,143; Non Dicit.

In practice. A formality practised in courts, on the trial of a cause before a jury, as preliminary to nonsuiting the plaintiff. It is usual in English practice, for a plaintiff, when he or his counsel perceives that he has not given evidence sufficient to maintain his issue, to be voluntarily non-suited, or to withdraw himself; whereupon the crier is ordered to call the plaintiff; and if neither he, nor any body for him, appears, he is non-suited, the jurors are discharged, the action is at an end, and the defendant shall recover his costs. 3 Bl. Com. 376. Hence the phrase has become synonymous with nonsuiting the plaintiff. "The plaintiff must be called;" that is, must be nonsuited. See the reports passim. The practice of calling the plaintiff to hear the verdict was dispensed with in the Supreme Court of New- York, in 1847. S.C. Rules, ed. 1847, R. 46.