Criminal procedure
Criminal trials and convictions
Rights of the accused
Fair trial  · Speedy trial  · Jury trial
Counsel  · Presumption of innocence
Exclusionary rule (U.S.)
Self-incrimination  · Double jeopardy (Not E&W)
Verdict
Acquittal  · Conviction
Not proven (Scot.)  · Directed verdict
Sentencing
Mandatory  · Suspended  · Custodial
Dangerous offender (Can., E&W)
Capital punishment  · Execution warrant
Cruel and unusual punishment
Post-conviction events
Parole  · Probation
Tariff (UK)  · Life licence (UK)
Miscarriage of justice
Exoneration  · Pardon
Related areas of law
Criminal defenses
Criminal law  · Evidence
Civil procedure
Portals: Law  · Criminal justice

In criminal law, an acquittal is a verdict of not guilty, or some similar end of the proceeding that terminates it with prejudice without a verdict of guilty being entered against the accused. The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential Within legal civil procedure, prejudice refers to a loss or injury In Criminal law, guilt is entirely externally defined by the State, or more generally a “court of law The opposite result is a conviction. In Law, a conviction is the Verdict that results when a Court of law finds a Defendant guilty of a Crime.

In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the innocence of the accused, as far as the criminal law is concerned. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi. Nolle prosequi is a Latin legal phrase meaning "do not pursue Under the rules of double jeopardy and autrefois acquit, an acquittal operates to bar the retrial of the accused for the same offense, even if new evidence surfaces that further implicates the accused. Double jeopardy (non bis in idem is a Procedural defense (and in many countries such as the United States, Canada, Mexico and India In the Common law, the peremptory pleas ( pleas in bar) are Pleas that set out special reasons for which a trial cannot go ahead The Law of evidence governs the use of Testimony (eg oral or written statements such as an Affidavit) and exhibits (e The effect of an acquittal on criminal proceedings is the same whether it results from a jury verdict, or whether it results from the operation of some other rule that discharges the accused. A jury a sworn body of persons convened to render a rational, impartial Verdict (a finding of fact on a question officially submitted to them In Law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a Jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge

Scots law has two acquittal verdicts: not guilty and not proven. Scots law is a unique legal system with an ancient basis in Roman law. Not proven is a Verdict available to a court in Scotland. Under Scots law, a criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts However a verdict of "not proven" does not give rise to the double jeopardy rule.

England and Wales

In England and Wales, which share a common legal system, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 creates an exception to the double jeopardy rule, by providing that retrials may be ordered if "new and compelling evidence" comes to light after an acquittal for a serious crime. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (2003 c44 is a wide ranging Act of Parliament introduced to modernise many areas of the Criminal justice system in England The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (2003 c44 is a wide ranging Act of Parliament introduced to modernise many areas of the Criminal justice system in England Also the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 permits a "tainted acquittal" to be set aside in circumstances where it is proved beyond reasonable doubt that an acquittal has been obtained by violence or threats of violence to a witness or juror.

In modern England and Wales, and in all countries that substantially follow English criminal procedure, an acquittal normally results in the immediate liberation of the defendant from custody, assuming no other charges against the defendant remain to be tried. However, until 1774 a defendant acquitted by an English or Welsh court would be remanded to jail until he had paid the jailer for the costs of his confinement. Year 1774 ( MDCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Jail, or gaol (especially in Canada, Australia and NZ[http //www It was known for acquitted persons to die in jail for lack of jailer's fees. ^[1]

United States

With one exception, in the United States an acquittal cannot be appealed by the prosecution because of the prohibition against double jeopardy. Double jeopardy (non bis in idem is a Procedural defense (and in many countries such as the United States, Canada, Mexico and India The U. S. Supreme Court has ruled:

If the judgment is upon an acquittal, the defendant, indeed, will not seek to have it reversed, and the government cannot. U. S. v. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Sanges, 144 U. S. 310 (1892). Ball v. U.S., 163 U. United States v Ball, 163 US 662 ( 1896) was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held considered the effect of an acquittal S. 662, 671 (1896)

A verdict of acquittal, although not followed by any judgment, is a bar to a subsequent prosecution for the same offense. Ball, supra, at 672.

Society's awareness of the heavy personal strain which a criminal trial represents for the individual defendant is manifested in the willingness to limit the Government to a single criminal proceeding to vindicate its very vital interest in enforcement of criminal laws. United States v. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Jorn, 400 U. S. 470, 479 (1971)

Whether the trial is to a jury or, as here, to the bench, subjecting the defendant to postacquittal factfinding proceedings going to guilt or innocence violates the Double Jeopardy Clause. Smalis v. Pennsylvania, 476 U. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern S. 140 (1986)

It was decided in Fong Foo v. United States, 369 U. Fong Foo v United States, 369 US 141 ( 1962) was a Supreme Court ruling that upheld the protection from Double Jeopardy by the S. 141 (1962) that a judgement of acquittal by a jury cannot be appealed by the prosecution. In United States v. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Jenkins, 420 U. S. 358 (1975), this was held applicable to bench trials. In Arizona v. The State of Arizona ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Rumsey, 467 U. Rumsey is an unincorporated community in Yolo County, California. S. 203 (1984), it was ruled that in a bench trial, when a judge was holding a separate hearing after the jury trial, to decide if the defendant should be sentenced to death or life imprisonment, the judge decided that the circumstances of the case did not permit death to be imposed. On appeal the judge's ruling was found to be erroneous. However, even though the decision to impose life instead of death was based on an erroneous interpretation of the law by the judge, the finding of life imprisonment in the original case constituted an acquittal of the death penalty and thus death could not be imposed upon a subsequent trial. Even though the acquittal of the death penalty was erroneous in that case, the acquittal must stand.

The only exception to an acquittal being final is if the defendant was never in jeopardy at all at trial. If a defendant bribes a judge and obtains acquittal as a result of a bench trial, the acquittal is not valid because the defendant was never in jeopardy in the first place. Harry Aleman v. Judges of the Criminal Division, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, et al., 183 F. Harry "The Hook" Aleman (born January 19, 1939) was a suspect in the unsolved murder of Salvatore "Sam" "Mooney" Giancana 3d 302 (1998).

An acquittal, while conclusive as to the criminal law, does not necessarily bar private civil actions in tort or on some other grounds as a result of the facts alleged in the charge. Civil law, as opposed to Criminal law, refers to that branch of Law dealing with disputes between Individuals and/or Organizations, in which Tort law is the name given to a body of law that creates and provides remedies for civil wrongs that do not arise out of Contractual duties For example, O.J. Simpson was held civilly liable for wrongful death even after being tried and acquitted of murder. Orenthal James "O J" Simpson (born July 9 1947 who has also been called The Juice, is a retired American football player, Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries In federal states it also does not bar prosecution for the same offences under a statute at a different level of government. For example, in the United States someone acquitted of a state murder charge can be retried for the same actions on a federal charge of violating civil rights.

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