The phrase “not guilty” means that the defendant is not legally answerable for the crime. An acquittal is a finding by the jury or judge that the defendant is not guilty after a jury or a bench trial. Acquittals trigger your Double Jeopardy protection from another prosecution for the same offense. Neither necessarily means that you are innocent of the crime.
Acquittals
An acquittal is one way that you can be found not guilty of the charged offense. You can get acquitted after your trial if the prosecutor fails to prove that you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
You get acquitted by the:
- judge, if your trial was a bench trial, or
- jury, if your trial was a jury trial.
The word “acquittal” is often used interchangeably with the phrase “not guilty verdict.” This is one reason why the term “acquittal” is confused with the concept of “not guilty.” Acquittals and not-guilty verdicts are not the only ways for you to be found not guilty of the offenses charged.
Partial acquittals
You can also be partially acquitted if you were facing more than one criminal charge. A partial acquittal is when you are acquitted for some of the charges, but convicted for others.
For example: Brad is accused of rape and the lesser offense of misdemeanor domestic violence. The jury finds him guilty of the domestic violence, but acquits him on the rape charge.
Not guilty
A finding that you are not guilty of the offense means that you cannot be punished for it. Note that it does not necessarily mean that you are actually innocent of the offense.
You can be found not guilty of the offense in several different ways, one of which is to get acquitted after trial. Some other ways are:
- getting your conviction overturned on appeal, and
- receiving a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
The subtle difference is that a finding of not guilty is broader than what an acquittal means.
Innocence
Note that neither a finding of not guilty nor an acquittal necessarily mean that you are innocent of the offense.
If you get acquitted, that means that the judge or jury decided that the prosecutor failed to prove his or her case beyond a reasonable doubt. There may have been plenty of evidence that you are guilty, but there was not enough.
This is one reason why the charge would remain on your criminal record if you are acquitted or otherwise found not guilty.
Double Jeopardy protections
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution includes the Double Jeopardy clause, which includes the phrase:
…nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb…[1]
This clause protects people from being tried more than once for the same offense. If you have been acquitted of a criminal charge, you cannot be tried again.
This is the main difference between an acquittal and being not guilty under criminal law. Acquittals trigger your Double Jeopardy protections. You would have a complete defense to a subsequent prosecution for the same offense.
Case dismissals
Being found not guilty and getting acquitted are both different than a case dismissal. The judge can dismiss a criminal case for a variety of reasons, such as:
- sufficient evidence has been excluded from trial that it is impossible to prove all of the elements of the case by the applicable burden of proof,
- the criminal complaint is defective,
- there was no probable cause for making an arrest or conducting the investigation,
- the criminal statute of limitations has expired, or
- a witness is unavailable.
Because these dismissals happen before trial, your Double Jeopardy protections would not have attached. Prosecutors can refile the case against you.
Dropped charges
They are also different from charges being dropped. The district attorney can drop charges for numerous reasons, like:
- as part of a plea bargain or plea deal,
- they realize that they have insufficient evidence to convict you,
- the judge has excluded enough evidence due to a violation of your rights, such as by a police officer’s unlawful search, that they are left with a case that is too weak, or
- you have agreed to provide testimony in another criminal case in exchange for your charges being dropped.
Dropped charges can get refiled without violating your Double Jeopardy rights.
Subsequent civil cases
If you are accused of a crime and acquitted or otherwise found not guilty of the offense, you can still face a civil lawsuit for the same incident. The Double Jeopardy clause only protects you from subsequent criminal prosecution in the legal system.
The criminal defense lawyers at our law firm have found that this is particularly common in criminal trials for murder or manslaughter. The relatives of the victim may file a wrongful death claim against you and demand compensation for their losses.
The standard of proof is much lower in a civil case than in a criminal one. In criminal court, the prosecutor has to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil trial, the plaintiff only has to prove it by a preponderance of the evidence.
The most famous case where this happened was with O.J. Simpson. He was acquitted of the murder charge in the California criminal justice system but then lost a civil lawsuit in a later personal injury case for wrongful death.
This is why it is so important to have a strong defense strategy. Being found not guilty means that you will not face criminal sanctions. But you can still face civil liability for the incident.
[1] U.S. Constitution, Amendment V.
