CAPIAS AD SATISFACIENDUM. A writ directed to the sherlff or coroner, command ing him to take the person therein named and him safely keep so that he may have his body in court on the return day of the writ, to satisfy (ad satisfaciendum) the party who has recovered judgment against him.
It is a writ of execution issued after judgment, and might have been issued against a plaintiff against whom judgment was obtained for costs, as weii as against the defendant in a personal action. Aa a rule at common law it iay in all cases where a rapids ad respondendum lay as a part of the mama process. Some classes of persons were, however, exempt from arrest on mesne process who were liable to it on final. It was a very common form of execution, until within a few years, in many of the states ; but its efficiency has been destroyed by statutes faciiitating the discharge of the debtor, in some states, and by statutes prohibiting its issue, in others, except in specified cases. See ARREST;
PRIVILEGE. It is commonly known by the abbrevia tion ca. ea.
It is tested on a general teste day, and returnable on a general return day.
It is executed by arresting the defendant and keeping him in custody. He cannot be discharged upon bail or by consent of the sheriff. See ESCAPE. And payment to the sheriff is held in England not to be sutti dent to authorize a discharge. He might be discharged by showing irregularities in the writ; 3 D. P. C. 291; 4 id. 6.
The return made by the officer is either C. C. & C. (cepi corpus et committitur), or N. E. I. (non est inventus). The effect of execution by a ca. sa. is to prevent suing out any other process against the lands or goods of the person arrested, at common law; but this is modified by statutes in the modern law. See EXECUTION.