Definition of verdict
Etymology
Old French verdit, from veir (“true”) + dit (“saying”).
Pronunciation
Noun
verdict (plural verdicts)
- (law) A decision on an issue of fact in a civil or criminal case or an inquest.
- An opinion or judgement.
Further reading
In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. The term, from the Latin veredictum, literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver ("true," from the Latin v"rus) and dit ("speech," from the Latin dictum, the neuter past participle of dīcere, to say).
Criminal law
In a criminal case, the verdict, which may be either "not guilty" or "guilty"-except in Scotland where the verdict of "not proven" is also available-is handed down by the jury. Different counts in the same case may have different verdicts.
A verdict of guilty in a criminal case is generally followed by a judgment of conviction rendered by the judge, which in turn be followed by sentencing.
In U.S. legal nomenclature, the verdict is the finding of the jury on the questions of fact submitted to it. Once the court (the judge) receives the verdict, the judge enters judgment on the verdict. The judgment of the court is the final order in the case. If the defendant is found guilty, he can choose to appeal the case to the local Court of Appeals.
Compromise verdict
A compromise verdict is a "verdict which is reached only by the surrender of conscientious convictions upon one material issue by some jurors in return for a relinquishment by others of their like settled opinion upon another issue and the result is one which does not command the approval of the whole panel," and, as such, is not permitted.
General verdict
A General Verdict is one in which the jury makes a complete finding and single conclusion on all issues presented to it. First, the jury finds the facts, as proved by the evidence, then it applies the law as instructed by the court, and finally it returns a verdict in one conclusion that settles the case. Such verdict is reported as follows:
"We the Jury find the issues for the plaintiff (or defendant, as the case may be) and assess his damages at one hundred thousand dollars."
Quotient verdict
A quotient verdict is a special case of a compromise verdict in which jurors determine the damages to be paid to the prevailing party by agreeing that each juror will write down his or her assessment of the damages, and the sum of these numbers is divided by the number of jurors. Quotient verdicts are considered invalid in the United States.
Sealed verdict
A sealed verdict is a verdict that's put in a sealed envelope when there is a delay in announcing the result, such as waiting for the judge, the parties and the attorneys to come back to court. The verdict is kept in a sealed envelope until court reconvenes and then handed to the judge.
Special verdict
In English law, a special verdict is a verdict by a jury that pronounces on the facts of the case but does not draw the ultimate inference of whether the accused is guilty or not; the judge then applies the law and to convict or acquit. In the words of William Blackstone, "The jury state the naked facts, as they find them to be proved, and pray the advice of the court thereon".
The judge forced a special verdict in the famous case of R v. Dudley and Stephens but generally such verdicts should only be returned in the most exceptional cases.
References:
- Wiktionary. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
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