Rule 106, section 13, 2d paragraph, is as follows: The accused filed a motion to quash the amended information alleging double jeopardy, motion that was denied by the respondent court hence, the instant petition for prohibition to enjoin the respondent court from further entertaining the amended information.īrushing aside technicalities of procedure and going into the substance of the issues raised, it may readily be stated that amended information was rightly allowed to stand. Evidence of death was available to the prosecution only on January 3, 1950, and on the following day, January 4, 1950, an amended information was filed charging the accused with consummated homicide. On December 29, 1949, at eight o'clock in the morning, the accused pleaded not guilty to the offense charged, and at 10:15 in the evening of the same day Benjamin Obillo died from his wounds. Petitioner Conrado Melo was charged in the Court of First Instance of Rizal, on December 27, 1949, with frustrated homicide, for having allegedly inflicted upon Benjamin Obillo, with a kitchen knife and with intent to kill, several serious wounds on different parts of the body, requiring medical attendance for a period of more than 30 days, and incapacitating him from performing his habitual labor for the same period of time. This is the best way to a robust and fair defense.THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES and THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF RIZAL, respondent-appellees.įirst Assistant Solicitor General Roberto A. In some cases, criminal proceedings might as well be a dry run for inevitable civil proceedings.Īcquittal in both the laymen’s and legal sense is fairly simple, but when you’ve been accused of a crime you should always have a criminal defense attorney present to help you understand the legal jargon and the potential consequences of a plea or eventual verdict. In other words, the burden of proof in a criminal court is wildly different from that of a civil court, and you might still find yourself in hot water if someone has the right to sue you for a boatload of cash. Oddly enough, just because a jury or judge hasn’t been presented with enough evidence to find you guilty of a crime does not mean that a civil proceeding can’t find you guilty of that same crime. One of the most important aspects of acquittal is that it means you’ve been freed from criminal charges related to a certain crime–but that’s it. Sometimes the prosecution oversteps a boundary and the judge steps in. These scenarios generally play out when a judge finds there is not enough evidence to try a defendant of a crime. Judges can also overturn the decision of a jury–although this is extremely rare. It should still be understood that judges have the overall say and can acquit a defendant even if there is no “not guilty” verdict connected to the case. In essence, a “not guilty” verdict and an acquittal are the same. Because such a verdict can relate to certain charges stemming from a specific crime, but not all, sometimes the acquittal is partial in nature. These two scenarios together represent the legal definition of acquittal.Īn acquittal is dependant on the “not guilty” verdict. If no one robbed the bank as far as the law is concerned, then no one could commit a crime by driving the accused away. For example, if an accused bank robber is acquitted of robbing the bank, then the accused accessory who was driving the getaway car would indirectly be acquitted of that charge. These occur when more than one person is tried with charges that relate to a single crime. This circumstance represents a factual acquittal.Ī different type of more legalized acquittal may take place in certain instances. The defendant is therefore cleared of charges and cannot be tried again for those same charges in the future. While the laymen know that acquittal is when a judge or jury finds a defendant not guilty of the accused crimes. So what is the more complicated, legal definition of the word? We asked out friends at Blischak Law: An acquittal can take place in a number of ways, depending on the specific case. Even though that’s the simplest explanation, not everything is so simple in the legal world, and a lawyer needs to know all the ins and outs and small details involved with every aspect of acquittal. If you’ve been acquitted of criminal charges, then you’re off the hook. Everyone has a basic idea of what the word “acquittal” means.