Quit
: (pry-mah fay-shah) Latin for “at first look,” or “on its face,” referring to a lawsuit or criminal prosecution in which the evidence before trial is sufficient to prove the case unless there is substantial contradictory evidence presented at trial. a prima facie case presented to a grand jury by the prosecution will result in an indictment. example: in a charge of bad check writing, evidence of a half dozen checks written on a non-existent bank account makes it a prima facie case. however, proof that the bank had misprinted the account number on the checks might disprove the prosecution’s apparent “open and shut” case.
