Not proven
Encyclopedia : N : NO : NOT : Not proven
|
| Criminal procedure |
|---|
| Criminal investigation |
| Arrest warrant · Search warrant |
| Probable cause · Knock and announce |
| Exigent circumstance |
| Search and seizure · Arrest |
| Right to silence · Miranda warning (U.S.) |
| Grand jury |
| Criminal prosecution |
| Statute of limitations |
| Bill of attainder · Ex post facto law |
| Criminal jurisdiction · Extradition |
| Inquisitorial system · Adversarial system |
| Arraignment · Indictment |
| Nolo contendere (U.S.) · Plea bargain |
| Rights of the accused |
| Right to a fair trial |
| Presumption of innocence |
| Jury trial · Speedy trial |
| Habeas corpus · Bail |
| Exclusionary rule (U.S.) |
| Self-incrimination · Double jeopardy |
| Verdict and sentencing |
| Acquittal · Conviction (law)>Conviction |
| Not proven (Scot.) |
| Mandatory sentencing |
| Suspended sentence |
| Parole · Probation |
| Tariff (UK) · Life licence (UK) |
| Dangerous offender (Can.) |
| Cruel and unusual punishment |
| Capital punishment · Execution warrant |
| Related areas of law |
| Criminal law · Evidence |
| Civil procedure |
| Portals: · |
The not proven verdict is often called the Scottish Verdict or the Scotch Verdict, although in Scotland it is often referred to as the bastard verdict.
History
The not proven verdict was established in Scottish law by 1728, but scholars dispute its origins. On one account, advanced two hundred years ago by the historians Hume and Arnot, the third and distinctively Scottish verdict was rooted in religious oppression. The Crown persecuted the Covenanters, and popular support for the Covenanters made it impossible to convict them in a jury trial. To pare the power of the jury, the Scottish judges began restricting the jury's role--no longer would the jury announce whether the defendant was "guilty" or "not guilty"; instead it would decide whether specific factual allegations were "proven" or "not proven"; and the judge would then decide whether to convict. In a famous trial in 1728, the story goes, a defense lawyer persuaded the jury to reassert its ancient right of acquitting, of finding a defendant "not guilty." Jurors continued to use both sets of verdicts, but "proven" fell away because it was redundant to "guilty." Some historians, however, such as Ian Douglas Willock, have rejected the traditional account.
Modern use
In modern use, the not proven verdict suggests a strong possibility of guilt but not enough evidence to convict. A person receiving a not proven verdict is not fined or imprisoned, and is not subject to double jeopardy. The real effect of a not proven verdict is stigma for the acquitted person. The verdict can tarnish a person's reputation, as when socialite Madeleine Smith was charged with murder in nineteenth century Glasgow but acquitted with a not proven verdict.
Some modern commentators have suggested that if a reduction in the number of possible verdicts is desired, it is the 'not guilty' verdict (in the sense of 'innocent') which should be discarded. This is based on the logic that if sufficient evidence exists to convict then 'guilty' is the appropriate verdict. If however insufficient or no evidence exists then the charge against the defendant can not be proved. Therefore the result should be 'not proven'. These are the only two logical and legal conclusions which can be drawn. To declare someone 'innocent' is a moral judgment, not a legal one, and as such is entirely beyond the capacity of a court of law.
Use in other jurisdictions
The Scottish verdict has not been permanently adopted outside of its home country, but it was sometimes used in colonial Canada, especially by some judges in southwestern Ontario. Its most famous use outside of Scottish law came when Senator Arlen Specter tried to vote not proven on an article of impeachment of Bill Clinton, and when, at the O. J. Simpson murder trial, various reformers, including Fred Goldman, Ron Goldman's father, pushed for a change to "not proven" because of what they felt was an incorrect presumption of innocence on the part of Simpson. [link] A recent proposal to introduce the not proven verdict into the United States is:
Samuel Bray, Not Proven: Introducing a Third Verdict, 72 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1299 (2005).
Analogy to science
The "not proven" verdict has been used in popular writing (as by Carl Sagan) as a metaphor for the operation of the scientific method, in which conclusions are never certain, but the most that can be said about a theory is what the preponderance of the evidence suggests.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.