Jury Duty

[zianuray]

I'm told there is a difference in the verdicts "innocent" and "not guilty" -- but what IS the difference?

Comments

[luckystar37.livejournal.com]

Maybe its like with or without prejudice? Like not enough evidence by the judge can see that there's a good possibility they are guilty? I don't know :/

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

I don't believe there IS a judicial verdict of 'innocent', but if there was it might be in the case of someone who was suspected and then someone else was later found guilty for the same crime.

There is a distinction between the pleas of 'guilty' and 'no contest'/nolo contendere - one admits guilt, the other says you're not disputing the case but not admitting guilt (important because it can cut short civil liability suits).

+1

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

There is no contest or not guilty. Innocent is not a legal plea that I have ever heard of, it's what you plead to the cops when they're hauling you off in cuffs. ;-) Although we do have one state (Louisiana) which was based off the Napoleonic Code rather than English Common Law, so they do have some really odd differences at times.

Pleading No Contest in criminal court will get you a stern look from the judge... I knew the distinction, but didn't realize it was more of a civil case thing. A lot of people locally have tried using No Contest in municiple court for ordinance infractions, and it can backfire because we sometimes use it as a "Well, I didn't REALLY do it, but I can't prove it in court so I'll just pay the fine".

ETA: Oh, wait... VERDICTS... that could be different. I had one case where I wasn't just found 'not guilty', but the charges were struck; meaning that the charges were thrown out as if they had never happened. In TV court I think this is similar to having a case 'thrown out' due to lack of merit.

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

Innocent means they did NOT commit the thing they are accused of. Not Guilty means that they did not explicitly commit the crime, although they may have been involved. Not guilty means that the Jury has some suspicion, and the vote is not unanimous.

[popfiend.livejournal.com]

There is no legal verdict of "Innocence".

A jury deliberates on "Guilty" and "Not Guilty".

"Guilty" means that the offense has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

"Not Guilty" means it has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Neither of these items assumes that there is no doubt and that the verdict will be perfect. It assumes that you will use your brain to fairly evaluate the evidence without prejudice.

The "presumption of Innocence" means that the burden is on the prosecution to prove that the person did it. The person on trial doesn't have to prove ANYTHING!!!

Our system doesn't work like this...but it's SUPPOSED to.