Mute
A Law Dictionary and Glossary · George C. Kinney · 1893
A Law Dictionary and Glossary
Speechless; dumb; that cannot or will not speak. A prisoner is said to stand mute, when, being arraigned, he either makes no answer, or answers foreign to the purpose, or with matter not allowable, and will not answer otherwise, or, having pleaded not guilty, refuses to put himself upon the country.