acquitted

Acquitted is a legal status in criminal law indicating that a defendant has been found not guilty of the charges. An acquittal can result from a jury verdict of not guilty or, in some jurisdictions, a judge’s ruling of directed (or judgment of) acquittal when the evidence does not meet the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

The standard of proof is central: a conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, while an acquittal means the prosecution failed to meet that standard for the charged offenses. An acquittal terminates the criminal action on those charges, and the defendant is freed from punishment for the offense at issue.

Effects and limitations include protection against double jeopardy: in many legal systems, a person who is acquitted cannot be retried for the same offense based on the same facts. An acquittal does not necessarily establish innocence in a moral sense, and it does not automatically bar civil liability arising from the same conduct. Civil lawsuits may proceed regardless of a criminal acquittal, depending on the applicable law.

Jurisdictional variations exist regarding whether acquittals can be reviewed or appealed. In some systems, the prosecution has limited avenues to challenge an acquittal, while in others the outcome is final, with appeals focused on trial errors rather than the sufficiency of the evidence. In civil-law jurisdictions, outcomes and remedies around acquittals may differ from common-law practice.

In everyday usage, to say someone was acquitted means the state did not prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt on the charged offenses, resulting in dismissal of those charges.