A verdict that contradicts itself in that the defendant is convicted and acquitted of different crimes having identical elements. • Sometimes the inconsistency occurs in a single verdict (repugnant verdict), and sometimes it occurs in two separate verdicts (repugnant verdicts). Both terms are used mainly in New York. [Cases: Criminal Law 878(4). C.J.S. Criminal Law […]
An acquittal by operation of law, as of someone who has been charged merely as an accessory after the principal has been acquitted.
walk, vb. Slang. 1. To be acquitted (though charged with three thefts, Robinson walked each time). 2. To escape any type of real punishment (despite the seriousness of the crime, Selvidge paid only $750: he walked).
A verdict in which the same element is found to exist and not to exist, as when a defendant is acquitted of one offense and convicted of another, even though the offenses arise from the same set of facts and an element of the second offense requires proof that the first offense has been committed.
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urban-survival syndrome. A self-defense theory holding that a defendant who uses unreasonable force may be acquitted if the defendant lives in a dangerous environment that heightens the defendant’s fears of injury to life or limb so much that the force used seemed reasonable and necessary to the defendant. — Also termed urban-survival defense; urban-fear syndrome;
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acquittal, n. 1. The legal certification, usu. by jury verdict, that an accused person is not guilty of the charged offense. acquittal in fact. An acquittal by a jury verdict of not guilty. acquittal in law. An acquittal by operation of law, as of someone who has been charged merely as an accessory after the
acquietatus ([schwa]-kwI-[schwa]-tay-t[schwa]s), adj. [Law Latin] Hist. Pronounced not guilty by a jury; acquitted.
motion for judgment of acquittal. A criminal defendant’s request, at the close of the government’s case or the close of all evidence, to be acquitted because there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis on which a reasonable jury could return a guilty verdict. • If the motion is granted, the government has no right of
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autrefois (oh-tr[schwa]-fwahoroh-t[schwa]r-foyz). [Law French] On another occasion; formerly. autrefois acquit ([schwa]-kwitor a-kee). A plea in bar of arraignment that the defendant has been acquitted of the offense. — Also termed former acquittal. See DOUBLE JEOPARDY. [Cases: Criminal Law 289–297; Double Jeopardy 100. 1. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 381–383.] “Suppose that a transgressor is charged and
inscriptio (in-skrip-shee-oh), n. [Latin] In later Roman law, a written accusation detailed in an official register. • The accuser was liable to punishment if the accused was acquitted. See INSCRIPTION(3). Pl. inscriptiones (in-skrip-shee-oh-neez). — inscribere, vb.