| n. | 1. | The act of acquitting; discharge from debt or obligation; acquittance. |
| 2. | (Law) A setting free, or deliverance from the charge of an offense, by verdict of a jury or sentence of a court. |
| Noun | 1. | acquittal - a judgment of not guilty Antonyms: judgment of conviction, sentence, conviction, condemnation - (criminal law) a final judgment of guilty in a criminal case and the punishment that is imposed; "the conviction came as no surprise" |
ACQUITTAL, contracts. A release or discharge from an obligation or engagement. According to Lord Coke there are three kinds of acquittal, namely; 1. By deed, when the party releases the obligation; 2. By prescription; 3. By tenure. Co. Lit. 100, a.
ACQUITTAL, crim. law practice. The absolution of a party charged with a
crime or misdemeanor.
2. Technically speaking, acquittal is - the absolution of a party
accused on a trial before a traverse jury. 1 N. & M. 36; 3 McCord, 461.
3. Acquittals are of two kinds, in fact and in law. The former takes
place when the jury upon trial finds a verdict of not guilty; the latter
when a man is charged merely as an accessary, and the principal has been
acquitted. 2 Inst. 384. An acquittal is a bar to any future prosecution for
the offence alleged in the first indictment.