Also known as: abest · aberat · abfuisset · absence
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A state of being away from a place where presence is required or expected.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Alexandra Armstrong leaves her apartment for a two-week vacation but intends to return. A burglar breaks in at night. The structure remains a dwelling because the temporary absence does not strip its character when regular sleeping use continues upon return.
Adam Anderson sues Apollo Energy but omits Anchor Bank, which holds a recorded interest in the disputed property. The court cannot accord complete relief among the existing parties without the bank because any judgment would leave the bank's rights unresolved.
Alfred Ashford is charged with wire fraud. The government offers evidence of his earlier similar scheme to show absence of mistake when he claimed the current transfers were accidental. The prior act is admissible on the non-propensity issue of lack of accident.
Aisha Ahmed is prosecuted for theft. The state presents no evidence placing her at the scene or linking her to the missing funds. In the absence of proof on every element, the court must assume her innocence and enter a judgment of acquittal.
Anthony Arnold leases commercial space from Artemis Logistics. The lease permits termination for constructive eviction but contains no clause on method. Arnold vacates and sends written notice of the reason. The lease terminates because reasonable steps assured the landlord's knowledge in the absence of a prescribed method.
Alice Atkins is injured when a scaffold collapses at Apex Dynamics' site. The event is of a kind that ordinarily does not occur without negligence. The absence of any other explanation permits the jury to infer negligence under res ipsa loquitur.
No. A structure remains a dwelling when occupants use it regularly for sleeping even if they are temporarily away, provided they intend to return.
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A court must join a party subject to service when complete relief cannot be accorded among existing parties in that person's absence.
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No person may be convicted unless each element is proved beyond a reasonable doubt. In the absence of such proof the defendant's innocence is assumed.
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…in utero , appearing usually from the 16th to the 18th week of pregnancy[^maj-20]—was not an indictable offense.[^maj-21] The absence of a common-law crime for pre-quickening abortion appears to have developed from a confluence of earlier philosophical, theological, and civil and canon law concepts of when life begins.…