Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary
A judgment that a person is not guilty of the crime with which the person has been charged.
A decision by a judge or jury that a defendant in a criminal case is not guilty of a crime. An acquittal is not a finding of innocence; it is simply a conclusion that the prosecution has not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
To be acquited of a crime is to be deemed to be innocent of the charges after a court hearing. This is different from a Discharge, where the case is never heard. In general, a defendant who is acquited can not be tried again for the same offence. If more than one defendant is on trial for the same offence (see: Accomplice), the acquittal of one of them is not admissible as evidence in favour of the others. A conviction, however, is admissible against the other defendants. This is because an acquittal is not `proof’ of innocence, it is merely an indication that the prosecution did not establish a case strong enough for a conviction. In other words, `innocent until proven guilty’ does not mean that `all are innocent until all are proven guilty’.
The judgment that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words, a verdict of “not guilty.”
To help you cite our definitions in your bibliography, here is the proper citation layout for the three major formatting styles, with all of the relevant information filled in.
Definitions for Acquittal are sourced/syndicated and enhanced from:
This glossary post was last updated: 22nd April, 2020 | 3 Views.