• At common law, courts have the power to arrest judgment for intrinsic causes appearing on the record, as when the verdict differs materially from the pleadings or when the case alleged in the pleadings is legally insufficient. Today, this type of defect must typically be objected to before trial or before judgment is entered, so that the motion in arrest of judgment has been largely superseded.
— Also termed allocutus. [Cases: Criminal Law 966–976; Judgment 259–269. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 1453–1457; Judgments §§ 95–105.]