Also known as: quashes · quashed · quashing · quashal · vacate · set aside
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
To annul or void a legal process, document, or prior ruling by judicial order. The order terminates the effectiveness of the targeted item when grounds such as privilege, improper service, or lack of authority are established.
Quentin Quinn was convicted by a jury on fraud charges. His lawyer filed a post-trial motion asserting that newly discovered evidence undermined the prosecution's key witness. The court granted the motion and quashed the judgment, ordering a new trial in the interest of justice.
Quintina Qualls was tried on theft charges and the jury returned a not-guilty verdict. When the state later filed a second information based on the same conduct, her counsel moved to quash the new prosecution. The court granted the motion because the prior acquittal barred further proceedings.
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Quiana Quach remained in the leased premises after her commercial lease expired. The landlord elected to treat the holdover as creating a new term and sought to set aside any claim that Quiana could unilaterally vacate without liability. The court upheld the election under the lease terms.
Quintin Quest fell behind on child support payments ordered by an interstate tribunal. The obligee petitioned to set aside Quest's attempt to shield assets and asked the court to set aside property for satisfaction of the arrears. The tribunal granted the request and directed sequestration of the identified accounts.
Quorum Partners, a shareholder, sued to enjoin a corporate transaction that exceeded the company's stated purposes. The court found the act unauthorized and, on equitable grounds, set aside the transaction while awarding damages to the corporation for losses incurred.
Quentin Quach, a raisin grower, challenged a federal marketing order that required him to surrender a portion of his crop to the government. The Supreme Court held the order an uncompensated taking of personal property under the Fifth Amendment.
A court must quash or modify a subpoena that requires disclosure of privileged or otherwise protected matter when no exception or waiver applies. The rule focuses on the nature of the information requested rather than relevance or the subpoenaed party's status as a nonparty.
Yes. Parties generally may not seek discovery from any source before the required conference occurs unless an exception applies. When no stipulation, court order, or exemption is present, the court should quash or defer the premature requests.
A motion to quash targets subpoenas that command disclosure of privileged or protected material and triggers a mandatory court response. Other objections, such as undue burden, allow greater judicial discretion and do not automatically require quashing.
No. Nonparty status alone does not justify quashing. The court must instead examine whether the subpoena seeks privileged or protected information without waiver or exception.
…would protect the press. Nor does the record indicate that any of these legalistic words would have caused the courts below to set aside or to reduce the half-million-dollar verdict in any amount. I agree with the Court that the Fourteenth Amendment made the First applicable to the States. This means to me that since the…