All 46 Uses
acquit
in
The Trial, by Fran Kafka
(Edited)
- ...what sort of acquittal is it you want?
Chpt 7acquittal = official finding of "not guilty"
- There are three possibilities; absolute acquittal, apparent acquittal and deferment.
Chpt 7
- There are three possibilities; absolute acquittal, apparent acquittal and deferment.
Chpt 7
- Absolute acquittal is the best, of course, only there's nothing I could do to get that sort of outcome.
Chpt 7
- I don't think there's anyone at all who could do anything to get an absolute acquittal.
Chpt 7
- Moreover, you said earlier that the judges can be influenced personally but now you insist that an absolute acquittal, as you call it, can never be attained through personal influence.
Chpt 7 *
- I don't know of any absolute acquittals but I do know of many times when a judge has been influenced.
Chpt 7acquittals = official findings of "not guilty"
- I've listened to countless trials at important stages in their development, I've followed them closely as far as they could be followed, and I have to say that I've never seen a single acquittal.
Chpt 7acquittal = official finding of "not guilty"
- "Not a single acquittal," said K., as if talking to himself and his hopes.
Chpt 7
- "Well that's enough," said K., "or have you heard of any acquittals that happened earlier?"
Chpt 7acquittals = official findings of "not guilty"
- "They say there have been some acquittals earlier," the painter answered, "but it's very hard to be sure about it."
Chpt 7
- But most of them did involve absolute acquittals, you can believe that, but they can't be proved.
Chpt 7
- As a result, he said, "So let's pay no more attention to absolute acquittal, but you mentioned two other possibilities."
Chpt 7acquittal = official finding of "not guilty"
- Apparent acquittal and deferment.
Chpt 7
- "Apparent acquittal and deferment," said the painter.
Chpt 7
- You can get either of them if I help you, but it'll take some effort of course, the difference between them is that apparent acquittal needs concentrated effort for a while and that deferment takes much less effort but it has to be sustained.
Chpt 7
- Now then, apparent acquittal.
Chpt 7
- "That would be very kind of you", said K. "And would the judge then believe you and nonetheless not pass an absolute acquittal?"
Chpt 7
- It's odd, but true, that people feel more confidence in this time than they do after they've been acquitted.
Chpt 7acquitted = officially found "not guilty"
- When he has the document asserting the defendant's innocence, guaranteed by a number of other judges, the judge can acquit you without any worries, and although there are still several formalities to be gone through there's no doubt that that's what he'll do as a favour to me and several other acquaintances.
Chpt 7acquit = officially find "not guilty"
- "That's right," said the painter, "but only apparently free or, to put it a better way, temporarily free, as the most junior judges, the ones I know, they don't have the right to give the final acquittal."
Chpt 7acquittal = official finding of "not guilty"
- The right to acquit people is a major privilege and our judges don't have it, but they do have the right to free people from the indictment.
Chpt 7acquit = officially find "not guilty"
- And as I'm in such good contact with the court I can also tell you how the difference between absolute and apparent acquittal is described, just in a superficial way, in the directives to the court offices.
Chpt 7acquittal = official finding of "not guilty"
- If there's an absolute acquittal all proceedings should stop, everything disappears from the process, not just the indictment but the trial and even the acquittal disappears, everything just disappears.
Chpt 7
- If there's an absolute acquittal all proceedings should stop, everything disappears from the process, not just the indictment but the trial and even the acquittal disappears, everything just disappears.
Chpt 7
- With an apparent acquittal it's different.
Chpt 7
- When that happens, nothing has changed except that the case for your innocence, for your acquittal and the grounds for the acquittal have been made stronger.
Chpt 7
- When that happens, nothing has changed except that the case for your innocence, for your acquittal and the grounds for the acquittal have been made stronger.
Chpt 7
- Seen from outside it can sometimes seem that everything has been long since forgotten, the documents have been lost and the acquittal is complete.
Chpt 7
- I've been talking here as if there's a long delay between apparent acquittal and re-arrest, that is quite possible and I do know of cases like that, but it's just as likely that the defendant goes home after he's been acquitted and finds somebody there waiting to re-arrest him.
Chpt 7
- I've been talking here as if there's a long delay between apparent acquittal and re-arrest, that is quite possible and I do know of cases like that, but it's just as likely that the defendant goes home after he's been acquitted and finds somebody there waiting to re-arrest him.
Chpt 7acquitted = officially found "not guilty"
- "The trial will always start over again," said the painter, "but there is, once again as before, the possibility of getting an apparent acquittal."
Chpt 7acquittal = official finding of "not guilty"
- "But to get a second acquittal," asked K., as if in anticipation of further revelations by the painter, "is that not harder to get than the first time?"
Chpt 7
- When the acquittal is passed the judges are already aware that re-arrest is likely.
Chpt 7
- But there are countless other reasons why the judges' mood and their legal acumen in the case can be altered, and efforts to obtain the second acquittal must therefore be suited to the new conditions, and generally just as vigorous as the first.
Chpt 7
- "But this second acquittal will once again not be final," said K., shaking his head.
Chpt 7
- "Of course not," said the painter, "the second acquittal is followed by the third arrest, the third acquittal by the fourth arrest and so on."
Chpt 7
- "Of course not," said the painter, "the second acquittal is followed by the third arrest, the third acquittal by the fourth arrest and so on."
Chpt 7
- That's what is meant by the term apparent acquittal.
Chpt 7
- "You clearly don't think an apparent acquittal offers much advantage," said the painter, "perhaps deferment would suit you better."
Chpt 7
- I repeat, this doesn't require so much effort as getting an apparent acquittal, but it probably requires a lot more attention.
Chpt 7
- The trial doesn't stop, but the defendant is almost as certain of avoiding conviction as if he'd been acquitted.
Chpt 7acquitted = officially found "not guilty"
- Compared with an apparent acquittal, deferment has the advantage that the defendant's future is less uncertain, he's safe from the shock of being suddenly re-arrested and doesn't need to fear the exertions and stress involved in getting an apparent acquittal just when everything else in his life would make it most difficult.
Chpt 7acquittal = official finding of "not guilty"
- Compared with an apparent acquittal, deferment has the advantage that the defendant's future is less uncertain, he's safe from the shock of being suddenly re-arrested and doesn't need to fear the exertions and stress involved in getting an apparent acquittal just when everything else in his life would make it most difficult.
Chpt 7
- I don't mean by this that the defendant is never free, he's never free in the proper sense of the word with an apparent acquittal either.
Chpt 7
- "But they also prevent his being properly acquitted," said K. quietly, as if ashamed to acknowledge it.
Chpt 7acquitted = officially found "not guilty"
Definitions:
-
(1)
(acquit as in: she was acquitted) to officially find "not guilty" of criminal chargesBeing acquitted does not mean the court declared the person innocent. It simply means there was not enough evidence to prove guilt according to the law.
The amount of evidence required depends on the type of case. In a criminal case, where someone could go to prison, the prosecution must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt—a very high standard. In a civil case, a lawsuit usually about money, the plaintiff only needs to show that the defendant is responsible more likely than not—a much lower standard.
This is why the same person can be found "not guilty" in a criminal trial (their guilt was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt) but still be found guilty in a civil trial for the same actions (because their guilt was more likely than not). -
(2)
(acquit as in: she acquitted herself well) to handle oneself in a specified way -- which is typically in a positive way
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(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Much less commonly and archaically, acquit can have other meanings. It can mean to release from a duty, as when Jane Austen wrote "I cannot acquit him of that duty" in her novel, Pride and Prejudice.
It can also mean to perform or complete an obligation, as when Charles Dickens wrote "I have a business charge to acquit myself of," in his novel, A Tale of Two Cities.