CAPIAS

Lat. “That you take.” The general name for several species of writs, the common characteristic of which is that they require the officer to take the body of the defendant into custody; they are writs of attachment or arrest. In English practice. A capias is the process on an indictment when the person charged is not in custody, and in cases not otherwise provided for by statute. 4 Steph. Comm. 383. Capias ad audiendum judicium. A writ issued, in a case of misdemeanor, after the defendant has appeared and is found guilty, to bring him to hear judgment if he is not present when called. 4 Bl. Comm. 368. Capias ad computandum. In the action of account render, after judgment of quod computet, if the defendant refuses to appear personally before the auditors and make his account, a writ by this name may issue to compel him.-Capias ad respondendum. A judicial writ, (usually simply termed a ”capias,”) by which actions at law were frequently commenced; and which commands the sheriff to take the defendant, and him safely keep, so that he may have his body before the court on a certain day, to answer the plaintiff in the action. 3 Bl. Comm. 282; 1 Tidd, Pr. 128. The name of this writ is commonly abbreviated to oa. resp. Capias ad satisfaciendum. A writ of execution, (usually termed, for brevity, a “ca. sa.,”) which a party may issue after having recovered judgment against another in certain actions at law. It commands the sheriff to take the party named, and keep him safely, so that he may have his body before the court on a certain day, to satisfy the party by whom it is issued, the damages or debt and damages recovered by the judgment. Its effect is to deprive the party taken of his liberty until he makes the satisfaction awarded. 3 Bl. Comm. 414, 415; 2 Tidd, Pr. 993, 1025; Litt.