Acquittal vs. Discharge: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Published on January 26, 2024
Acquittal is a legal verdict declaring a defendant not guilty of a charge, while discharge is a court's decision to release a defendant before or during a trial without a verdict.
Key Differences
Acquittal is a formal declaration by a court that the accused is not guilty of the crime charged, typically after a full trial. Discharge, however, occurs when the court releases the accused from the case, often before a trial is completed or sometimes without a trial, usually due to insufficient evidence or procedural issues.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
In the case of an acquittal, the accused has faced trial and the evidence has been reviewed and judged insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In contrast, a discharge may happen at any stage in the legal process if the judge deems the case inappropriate for trial or finds legal deficiencies in the prosecution's case.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Once acquitted, a defendant cannot be retried for the same offense, a protection against double jeopardy. Discharge, on the other hand, does not always provide such finality; in some cases, the prosecution may refile charges if additional evidence is found.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Acquittal is a clear legal outcome based on the merits of the case, reflecting a decision on the actual charges. Discharge may be based on technical or procedural grounds and does not necessarily relate to the substantive issue of guilt or innocence.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
The impact of acquittal on a defendant's record is that of a person who has been cleared of criminal charges, often restoring their reputation. Discharge, while removing immediate legal jeopardy, may still leave some ambiguity regarding the defendant's involvement in the alleged crime, depending on the reason for the discharge.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
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Comparison Chart
Stage in Legal Process
Typically occurs after a full trial.
Can occur before or during a trial.
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Jan 26, 2024
Based on
Judgment on the merits of the case.
Legal or procedural grounds, often not related to merits.
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Jan 26, 2024
Implication of Guilt
Declares defendant not guilty.
Does not necessarily imply guilt or innocence.
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Jan 26, 2024
Double Jeopardy Protection
Prevents retrial for the same offense.
May allow for retrial under certain conditions.
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Jan 26, 2024
Impact on Defendant's Record
Clears the defendant of charges, often restoring reputation.
May leave ambiguity regarding involvement in the crime.
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Jan 26, 2024
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Acquittal and Discharge Definitions
Acquittal
Acquittal signifies the end of a criminal trial with a verdict of not guilty.
The judge pronounced an acquittal, dismissing all charges against her.
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Jan 07, 2024
Discharge
Discharge can occur when a court decides there's insufficient evidence to continue a trial.
His discharge came after the key witness retracted their statement.
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Jan 07, 2024
Acquittal
An acquittal occurs when a court decides that there is insufficient evidence to convict.
The acquittal was based on the lack of credible evidence against the accused.
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Jan 07, 2024
Discharge
Discharge is the court's decision to let a defendant go without a verdict.
The unexpected discharge of the accused left the public in disbelief.
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Jan 07, 2024
Acquittal
Acquittal is the judicial finding of innocence in a criminal trial.
His acquittal confirmed that the justice system worked in his favor.
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Jan 07, 2024
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Discharge
Discharge may be granted if the court finds legal deficiencies in the prosecution’s case.
The judge granted a discharge, citing lack of jurisdiction.
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Jan 07, 2024
Acquittal
Judgment, as by a jury or judge, that a defendant is not guilty of a crime as charged.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Discharge is a legal action that ends a case without determining guilt or innocence.
The discharge did not clear his name, but it ended the legal proceedings.
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Jan 07, 2024
Discharge
To release, as from confinement, care, or duty
Discharge a patient.
Discharge a soldier.
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Jan 06, 2024
Acquittal
The act of fulfilling the duties (of a given role, obligation etc.).
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Jan 06, 2024
Acquittal
(legal) A legal decision that someone is not guilty with which they have been charged, or the formal dismissal of a charge by some other legal process.
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Jan 06, 2024
Acquittal
(historical) The act of releasing someone from debt or other obligation; acquittance.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To perform the obligations or demands of (an office, duty, or task).
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Jan 06, 2024
Acquittal
The act of acquitting; discharge from debt or obligation; acquittance.
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Jan 06, 2024
Acquittal
A setting free, or deliverance from the charge of an offense, by verdict of a jury or sentence of a court.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Acquittal
Acquittal is a legal verdict where a defendant is found not guilty of a charge.
The jury's acquittal of the defendant brought relief to his family.
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Jan 07, 2024
Discharge
(Electricity) To cause the release of stored energy or electric charge from (a battery, for example).
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Jan 06, 2024
Acquittal
Acquittal releases a defendant from the charge of a crime.
The news reported the high-profile acquittal of the celebrity.
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Jan 07, 2024
Discharge
To relieve (a part) of excess weight by distribution of pressure.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To relieve (a ship, for example) of a burden or of contents; unload.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
A flowing out or pouring forth; emission; secretion
A discharge of pus.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Something that is discharged, released, emitted, or excreted
A watery discharge.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
The act or an instance of removing an obligation, burden, or responsibility.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Fulfillment of the terms of something, such as a debt or promise.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Dismissal or release from employment, service, care, or confinement.
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Discharge
An official document certifying such release, especially from military service.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Release of stored energy in a capacitor by the flow of current between its terminals.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Conversion of chemical energy to electric energy in a storage battery.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
A flow of electricity in a dielectric, especially in a rarefied gas.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To free of a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to forgive; to clear.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
(military) To release (a member of the armed forces) from service.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty.
To discharge a prisoner
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To operate (any weapon that fires a projectile, such as a shotgun or sling).
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
(logic) To release (an auxiliary assumption) from the list of assumptions used in arguments, and return to the main argument.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take out, as that with which anything is loaded or filled.
To discharge a cargo
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To let fly; to give expression to; to utter.
He discharged a horrible oath.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a chemical process.
To discharge the colour from a dyed fabric in order to form light figures on a dark background
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Pus or exudate (other than blood) from a wound or orifice, usually due to infection or pathology.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
The act of accomplishing (an obligation) or repaying a debt etc.; performance.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
(military) The act of releasing a member of the armed forces from service.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
(hydrology) The volume of water transported by a river in a certain amount of time, usually in units of m3/s (cubic meters per second).
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To relieve of a charge, load, or burden; to empty of a load or cargo; to unburden; to unload; as, to discharge a vessel.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To free of the missile with which anything is charged or loaded; to let go the charge of; as, to discharge a bow, catapult, etc.; especially, said of firearms, - to fire off; to shoot off; also, to relieve from a state of tension, as a Leyden jar.
The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows, discharge their great pieces against the city.
Feeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect muscular actions.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To of something weighing upon or impeding over one, as a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to clear.
Discharged of business, void of strife.
In one man's fault discharge another man of his duty.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss.
Discharge the common sortWith pay and thanks.
Grindal . . . was discharged the government of his see.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty; as, to discharge a prisoner.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take out, as that with which anything is loaded or filled; as, to discharge a cargo.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To let fly, as a missile; to shoot.
They do discharge their shot of courtesy.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To set aside; to annul; to dismiss.
We say such an order was "discharged on appeal."
The order for Daly's attendance was discharged.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To throw off the obligation of, as a duty or debt; to relieve one's self of, by fulfilling conditions, performing duty, trust, and the like; hence, to perform or execute, as an office, or part.
Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so largeAs could their hundred offices discharge.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to.
If he hadThe present money to discharge the Jew.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To give forth; to emit or send out; as, a pipe discharges water; to let fly; to give expression to; to utter; as, to discharge a horrible oath.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a chemical process; as, to discharge the color from a dyed fabric in order to form light figures on a dark ground.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
To throw off or deliver a load, charge, or burden; to unload; to emit or give vent to fluid or other contents; as, the water pipe discharges freely.
The cloud, if it were oily or fatty, would not discharge.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
The act of discharging; the act of relieving of a charge or load; removal of a load or burden; unloading; as, the discharge of a ship; discharge of a cargo.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Firing off; explosive removal of a charge; explosion; letting off; as, a discharge of arrows, of artillery.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Act of relieving of something which oppresses or weighs upon one, as an obligation, liability, debt, accusation, etc.; acquittance; as, the discharge of a debtor.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Act of removing, or getting rid of, an obligation, liability, etc.; fulfillment, as by the payment of a debt, or the performance of a trust or duty.
Indefatigable in the discharge of business.
Nothing can absolve us from the discharge of those duties.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Release or dismissal from an office, employment, etc.; dismission; as, the discharge of a workman by his employer.
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Legal release from confinement; liberation; as, the discharge of a prisoner.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
The state of being discharged or relieved of a debt, obligation, office, and the like; acquittal.
Too secure of our dischargeFrom penalty.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
That which discharges or releases from an obligation, liability, penalty, etc., as a price of ransom, a legal document.
Death, who sets all free,Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
A flowing or issuing out; emission; vent; evacuation; also, that which is discharged or emitted; as, a rapid discharge of water from the pipe.
The hemorrhage being stopped, the next occurrence is a thin serous discharge.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
The equalization of a difference of electric potential between two points. The character of the discharge is mostly determined by the nature of the medium through which it takes place, the amount of the difference of potential, and the form of the terminal conductors on which the difference exists. The discharge may be alternating, continuous, brush, connective, disruptive, glow, oscillatory, stratified, etc.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Any of several bodily processes by which substances go out of the body;
The discharge of pus
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
The termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to depart)
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Pronounce not guilty of criminal charges;
The suspect was cleared of the murder charges
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Jan 06, 2024
Discharge
Discharge in legal terms means releasing a defendant from a case before trial completion.
The judge ordered a discharge due to procedural errors in the case.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 07, 2024
Repeatedly Asked Queries
What leads to a discharge in a court case?
Discharge can result from insufficient evidence, procedural errors, or legal deficiencies.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Can a discharged individual be retried for the same crime?
Yes, depending on the reason for discharge, a retrial may be possible.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Can an acquitted person be tried again for the same offense?
No, due to double jeopardy laws, a person acquitted cannot be tried again for the same offense.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
What does acquittal signify in a legal context?
Acquittal signifies that the court has found the defendant not guilty of the charges.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Is an acquittal based on the evaluation of evidence?
Yes, acquittal is based on the court's assessment that evidence is insufficient for conviction.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Does acquittal mean the accused is innocent?
Legally, acquittal means the prosecution couldn't prove guilt; it doesn't always equate to factual innocence.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Does a discharge provide the same legal finality as an acquittal?
No, discharge may not provide the same finality as an acquittal, especially if there's a possibility of refiling charges.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Are there different types of discharges in legal proceedings?
Yes, discharges can vary depending on the legal system and specific case circumstances.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Can a discharge be appealed by the prosecution?
Yes, in some legal systems, the prosecution can appeal a discharge.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
How does public perception differ between acquittal and discharge?
Acquittal is often seen as a clearer indication of innocence than discharge, which can be viewed as more ambiguous.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
What role does the judge play in a discharge?
The judge decides on a discharge based on legal and procedural considerations.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Are jury trials more likely to lead to an acquittal or a discharge?
Jury trials are more about reaching a verdict (acquittal or conviction), while discharges are often decided by judges.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Can discharge occur at any stage of the legal process?
Yes, discharge can happen at various stages, often before a full trial is conducted.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
What is the impact of an acquittal on a defendant’s record?
An acquittal typically clears the defendant of the charges, positively impacting their record.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Can new evidence after an acquittal lead to a retrial?
Generally, no; acquittal is final, and double jeopardy laws prevent retrial on the same charges.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
What does an acquittal indicate about the prosecution's case?
It indicates that the prosecution failed to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Is a discharge always a reflection of the accused’s innocence?
Not necessarily; it may reflect issues with the prosecution’s case rather than the accused's innocence.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
How do defense strategies differ for seeking acquittal vs. discharge?
Defense strategies for acquittal focus on refuting evidence, while for discharge, they often highlight legal or procedural flaws.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Does an acquittal affect future legal proceedings against the individual?
An acquittal can impact future proceedings, as it establishes a precedent of not guilty for the specific charges.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
Is media coverage of acquittals and discharges typically different?
Yes, acquittals, especially in high-profile cases, tend to receive more extensive media coverage than discharges.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 26, 2024
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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