acquit

Acquit is a verb meaning to relieve a person from criminal charge by a verdict or judgment that the accused is not guilty. The noun acquittal denotes the judgment itself. The term derives from Old French acquitter, from Latin ad quietare, meaning to quiet or set at rest; the sense is to discharge or absolve from obligation or accusation.

In criminal law, an acquittal occurs when the prosecution fails to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. It does not necessarily declare the defendant innocent; rather, it signifies that the legal standard for conviction was not met. Acquittals can result from jury verdicts or a judge’s ruling in a bench trial, including not guilty findings in cases involving insanity pleas or other legal defenses.

An acquittal generally ends the case with respect to the charged offense. The principle of double jeopardy typically prevents retrying the same person for the same offense after an acquittal. However, separate offenses based on different conduct or different charges may sometimes be pursued. Prosecution appeals of acquittals are generally barred in many jurisdictions, while defendants retain the right to appeal legal errors made during the trial.

Related usage includes the phrase to acquit oneself, meaning to conduct oneself well or to perform satisfactorily in a challenging situation. While acquittal relates to criminal charges, it is distinct from dismissals or non-prosecuted dispositions, which terminate a case for procedural reasons rather than a determination of the defendant’s guilt or innocence.