Acquittal

Acquittal, The legal certification usually by jury verdict that an accused person is not guilty of the charged offence. [fr. acquitter, Fr.; quietus, Lat., to free, acquit, or discharged], a deliverance and setting free of a person from the suspicion or guilt of an offence; also to be free from entries and molestations by a superior lord, for services issuing out of lands, Cowel. Acquittal is of two kinds--(1) Acquittal in deed, as when a person is cleared by verdict; and (2) Acquittal in law, as if two be indicted for a felony, the one as principal and the other as accessory, and the jury acquit the principal, by law the accessory is also acquitted, 2 Inst. 384.Means the legal certification, usually by jury verdict, that an accused person is not guilty of the charged offence, Black Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 24.If person is acquitted and ordered to be discharged it is illegal any longer to detain him, and the duty of seeing that he is at once discharged is upon the governor of the p...

implied acquittal

implied acquittal : an acquittal of a more serious offense (as first-degree murder) that is considered to result from a verdict which convicts the defendant of a lesser included offense while remaining silent on the greater one NOTE: A greater offense and a lesser included offense are the same offense under a double jeopardy analysis. Therefore, a conviction of a lesser included offense and implied acquittal of the greater offense bars retrial on the greater offense. ...

acquittal

acquittal 1 : release or discharge from debt or other liability 2 : a setting free or deliverance from the charge of an offense by verdict of a jury, judgment of a court, or other legal process see also implied acquittal judgment of acquittal at judgment compare conviction ...

Acquittal in fact

Acquittal in fact, means an acquittal by a jury verdict of not guilty, Black Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 24....

Acquittal in law

Acquittal in law, means an acquittal by operation of law, as to someone who has been charged merely as an accessory after principal has been acquitted, Black Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 24....

directed verdict of acquittal

directed verdict of acquittal see verdict ...

judgment of acquittal

judgment of acquittal see judgment ...

Acquittal contracts

Acquittal contracts, a discharge from an obligation, which is either by deed, prescription, or tenure, Co. Litt. 100 a....

Judgment of acquittal

Judgment of acquittal, means a judgment, rendered on the defendant's motion or court's own motion, that acquits the defendant of the offense charged when the evidence is insufficient, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 847....

verdict

verdict [alteration (partly conformed to Medieval Latin veredictum) of Anglo-French veirdit statement, finding, verdict, from Old French veir true (from Latin verus) + dit saying, from Latin dictum] 1 : the usually unanimous finding or decision of a jury on one or more matters (as counts of an indictment or complaint) submitted to it in trial that ordinarily in civil actions is for the plaintiff or for the defendant and in criminal actions is guilty or not guilty compare judgment compromise verdict : a verdict produced not by sincere unanimous agreement on guilt or liability but by an improper surrender of individual convictions ;specif : an impermissible verdict by a jury that is unable to agree on liability and so compromises on an award of damages that is less than what it should be if the plaintiff has a right of recovery free from any doubts di·rect·ed verdict 1 : a verdict granted by the court when the party with the burden of proof has failed to present sufficie...

Acquittal - Law Dictionary Search Results