Legal Definitions - nonissuable plea

A nonissuable plea is a formal response made by a defendant in a legal case that does not challenge the factual merits of the accusation or claim itself. Instead, it raises a procedural or technical objection, such as questioning the court's authority to hear the case, pointing out a defect in the legal documents, or arguing that the lawsuit was filed improperly. Such a plea does not create a factual "issue" (a point of dispute about what happened) for a jury or judge to decide at a trial, but rather asks the court to address a preliminary legal problem.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Challenging Court Jurisdiction: Imagine a small business in California is sued by a customer in a court in New York, even though the business has no operations, employees, or sales in New York. The business's attorney might file a plea arguing that the New York court lacks personal jurisdiction over the California company. This is a nonissuable plea because it doesn't dispute whether the customer's claims are true or false (the factual merits). Instead, it argues that the New York court simply doesn't have the legal authority to hear a case against this particular defendant, regardless of the facts of the dispute.

• Defective Legal Document: Suppose a person is accused of a crime, but the formal charging document (an indictment or complaint) fails to specify crucial details required by law, such as the exact date or location of the alleged offense. The defendant's attorney might file a plea asking the court to dismiss the charges because the charging document is legally insufficient. This is a nonissuable plea because it doesn't claim the defendant is innocent (a factual issue). Instead, it argues that the legal paperwork itself is flawed and doesn't meet the necessary standards for the case to proceed, regardless of what actually happened.

• Statute of Limitations: Consider a situation where someone attempts to sue a former business partner for breach of contract, but the lawsuit is filed seven years after the alleged breach occurred. If the law in that state specifies that lawsuits for breach of contract must be filed within five years, the defendant's attorney could file a plea to dismiss the case based on the statute of limitations. This is a nonissuable plea because it does not dispute whether the contract was breached (a factual issue). Instead, it argues that, even if a breach occurred, the legal time limit for bringing the lawsuit has expired, thereby barring the court from hearing the case.