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ver·dict /'vər-dikt/ n [alteration (partly conformed to Medieval Latin veredictum ) of Anglo-French veirdit statement, finding, verdict, from Old French veir true (from Latin verus ) + dit saying, from Latin dictum]1: the usu. unanimous finding or decision of a jury on one or more matters (as counts of an indictment or complaint) submitted to it in trial that ordinarily in civil actions is for the plaintiff or for the defendant and in criminal actions is guilty or not guilty compare judgment 1acompromise verdict: a verdict produced not by sincere unanimous agreement on guilt or liability but by an improper surrender of individual convictions; specif: an impermissible verdict by a jury that is unable to agree on liability and so compromises on an award of damages that is less than what it should be if the plaintiff has a right of recovery free from any doubtsdi·rect·ed verdict1: a verdict granted by the court when the party with the burden of proof has failed to present sufficient evidence of a genuine issue of material fact that must be submitted to a jury for its resolutionthe order of the court granting a motion for a directed verdict is effective without any assent of the jury — Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 50(a) see also judgment notwithstanding the verdict at judgment 1a◇ Motions for summary judgment, a directed verdict, or for judgment notwithstanding the verdict are all based on the assertion that there is no material fact at issue. A motion for a directed verdict is made after the opponent has presented the evidence.2: a verdict of acquittal ordered by the court on the ground that the evidence is not sufficient to support a conviction when viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution: judgment of acquittal at judgment 1amotions for directed verdict are abolished and motions for judgment of acquittal shall be used in their place — Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 29(a)directed verdict of acquittal: directed verdict (2) in this entryexcessive verdict: a verdict that awards damages grossly disproportionate to injury and shocks the court's sense of justice and that may be remedied by a lessening of damages or a new trial see also remittiturgeneral verdict: a verdict that is either for the plaintiff or for the defendant and is often returned with answers to interrogatories on questions of factwhere there exists a conflict between the general verdict and the interrogatories, the trial court may determine that the answers to the interrogatories prevail — Berk v. Matthews, 559 N.E.2d 1301 (1990) see also interrogatory, special interrogatory compare special verdict in this entryin·struct·ed verdict: directed verdict in this entrypar·tial verdict1: a verdict in which a jury does not find all of the defendants in a trial to be guilty2 a: a verdict that finds a defendant guilty on some counts and not guilty on othersb: a verdict in which a jury is unable to reach or has not yet reached agreement on all of the offenses under consideration◇ The acceptance of partial verdicts before a jury is finished with deliberations may interfere with the deliberative process; having a jury achieve unanimity on a higher charge first discourages compromise verdicts on lesser included offenses. In some jurisdictions it has been considered proper to afford the jury the opportunity to render a partial verdict of acquittal on a higher charge to avoid declaring a mistrial because of a hopeless deadlock only on a lesser included offense; such a verdict would prevent double jeopardy on the higher charge.quo·tient verdict /'kwō-shənt-/: a usu. impermissible verdict that is based on a numerical average of the amounts written down by jurors (as percentages of fault in a comparative negligence case); specif: a verdict that awards damages based on the average of the sums written down by the jurors under an agreement that all will be bound by the average figurequotient verdicts are invalid and constitute grounds for a mistrial — Faverty v. McDonald's Restaurants of Oregon, Inc., 892 P.2d 703 (1995)repugnant verdict: an impermissible verdict that contradicts itself since the defendant is convicted and acquitted of different crimes having identical elements in the same transaction— used chiefly in New Yorkre·spon·sive verdict /ri-'spän-siv-/: a verdict that responds to the indictment and accords with statutorily prescribed findings for a particular charge that include guilty, not guilty, and guilty of a prescribed lesser included offense— used in Louisiana◇ A responsive verdict of guilty on a lesser included offense must be supported by the evidence.special verdict: a verdict that consists of specific findings of fact (as of liability) in response to interrogatories, that often includes determinations of damages, and that is used by the court in the formation of a judgment compare general verdict in this entry2: an amount awarded in a verdictreduced the verdict
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
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I
noun
adjudication, answer, assessment, award, conclusion, decision, decision of a jury, declaration of a jury, decree of a jury, definitive answer, determination, finding, iudicium, judgment, opinion of the jury, pronouncement of a jury, resolution by a jury, ruling, sentence, sen ten da
associated concepts: adverse verdict, arbitrary verdict, compromise verdict, directed verdict, estoppel by verdict, excessive verdict, final verdict, general verdict, incongruous verdict, informal verdict, judgment notwithstanding verdict, open verdict, partial verdict, quotient verdict, recorded verdict, rendering of a verdict, special verdict, unanimous verdict, void verdict
foreign phrases:
- Veredictum, quasi dictum veritatis; ut judicium, quasi juris dictum. — A verdict is, as it were, the expression of the truth, as a judgment is, as it were, the expression of the law- Non obstante veredicto. — Notwithstanding the verdictII index adjudication, answer (solution), award, conclusion (determination), consequence (conclusion), conviction (finding of guilt), decision (judgment), decree, determination, finding, holding (ruling of a court), result, ruling, sentence
Burton's Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006
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n.A jury’s or judge’s finding on a question of fact, to be used by the court in determining its final judgment.
The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008.
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vere dictum, 'truly said'. The decision of a jury based on its interpretation of the factual evidence led and the law as stated to it by the judge. A verdict of guilty means that the jury is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused did the things required to constitute the crime as legally defined. Any other verdict (including in Scotland not proven) is an acquittal and on the basis of the presumption of innocence, the accused can, indeed must, be described as innocent of the charge. In Scotland a bare majority (eight out of fifteen) is required for conviction. In England there must be ten out of 12 for the verdict. The Scottish system has in its favour that it would be more expensive to bribe or terrify the jury and there would be more witnesses to speak to failed attempts.
Collins dictionary of law. W. J. Stewart. 2001.
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A jury's decision after a trial, which becomes final when accepted by the judge. (See also: directed verdict, special verdict)Category: Small Claims Court & Lawsuits
Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. Gerald N. Hill, Kathleen Thompson Hill. 2009.
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n. The conclusion of a jury, or of a judge in a non-jury case, of what the facts are or were. A verdict, being a finding of fact, is different from a judgment or a judicial decision. The trial court may choose to accept or to disregard the verdict in determining judgment.@ compromise verdictA verdict achieved by some juror giving in on one of his or her misgivings in exchange for another juror's doing the same, in order to avoid a deadlock or extended period of deliberation. Such an exchange, although considered improper, happens often.=>> verdict.@ general verdictA verdict that simply declares which side wins, without finding any special facts to be true.=>> verdict.@ partial verdictA verdict in a criminal case that finds the defendant guilty of some charges but innocent of others.=>> verdict.@ quotient verdictAn improper verdict in a damage case, whereby the jurors find the arithmetic mean of what they think are appropriate damages; that is, the total of what each juror believes should be awarded, divided by the number of jurors to arrive at the amount of the award.n. An improper verdict that a jury may arrive at by taking the arithmetic mean of what each juror believes to be an appropriate award.=>> verdict.@ special verdictA jury verdict that sets forth findings on the merits of each factual issue posed by the court, then used by the court in applying the law to the facts that were found to have merit. When applied in a criminal case, where the judge directs the jury to render special verdicts on specific charges in a case, such action has been declared to be unconstitutional, as the defendant is entitled to a general verdict.=>> verdict.@
Webster's New World Law Dictionary. Susan Ellis Wild. 2000.
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The formal decision or finding made by a jury concerning the questions submitted to it during a trial. The jury reports the verdict to the court, which generally accepts it.
Dictionary from West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005.
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The formal decision or finding made by a jury concerning the questions submitted to it during a trial. The jury reports the verdict to the court, which generally accepts it.II A conclusion, as to fact or law, that forms the basis for the court's judgment. (See directed verdict.)
Short Dictionary of (mostly American) Legal Terms and Abbreviations.
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n.the decision of a jury after a trial, which must be accepted by the trial judge to be final. A judgment by a judge sitting without a jury is not a verdict. A "special verdict" is a decision by the jury on the factual questions in the case, leaving the application of the law to those facts to the judge, who makes the final judgment. A "directed verdict" is a decision following an instruction by the judge that the jury can only bring in a specific verdict ("based on the evidence you must bring in a verdict of 'not guilty'"). A "chance verdict" (decided by lot or the flip of a coin), a "compromise verdict" (based on some jurors voting against their beliefs to break a deadlock) and a "quotient verdict" (averaging the amount each juror wants to award) are all improper and will result in a mistrial (having the verdict thrown out by the judge) or be cause for reversal of the judgment on appeal.
Law dictionary. EdwART. 2013.
