Judgement?

Question

I know this guy that got charged with rape in 95 and in 05 and they were both dismissed and the diposition was JUDGMENT ENTRY OF ACQUITTAL, what does that mean? does that mean he did do it or not?

Answer 1

An aquittal means the prosecution did not prove its case. It doesn't mean the prosecution did a lousy job necessarily, it may mean that the evidence was simply not available for any one of a number of reasons. It does not tell you whether he did or did not do it, but it probably means that's the end of the matter as far as the criminal justice system goes.

Answer 2

Crystal's mostly right, but the court did enter JUDGMENT. The government didn't merely dismiss its case, but rather the court "found" the guy to be not guilty. As Crystal said, that's not a judgment of "innocence" (versus not being guilty) ; however, it is a dismissal on the merits, and really the clearest statement of "not guilty" that a defendant can get from a court.

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EDIT

I don't think it's fair for us to advise you one way or another whether to stay away from the guy. Maybe the guy had vindictive girlfriends who falsely accused him of rape. Or maybe he is a serial date rapist who looks believeable and can't be prosecuted when it's just the victim's word against his. We don't know, and we can't ruin his life by advising you to stay away from him (after all, he was found NOT GUILTY... anyone ever hear of innocent until proven guilty?) but we can't advise you to get close to him (because only you know the guy and only you can say whether you're uncomfortable with him).

Answer 3

Basically it was found that he was not guilty of the charge. This is to say that if he did do it, there was insufficient evidence to prove it. It was probably a directed verdict by the judge.

Answer 4

It's a "not guilty" verdict. It does mean you would be better off staying away from the guy though, just to be safe and secure in your own life.