Plural of acquittal; official court decisions declaring that someone is not guilty of the charges against them.
From acquittal, which comes from Old French aquitaille, meaning 'payment' or 'discharge.' In legal contexts, it evolved to mean the formal discharge of an accused person from prosecution.
Famous acquittals in history often prove controversial—the acquittal of O.J. Simpson in 1995 and Harvey Weinstein's 2022 partial acquittal show how the legal standard of 'beyond reasonable doubt' doesn't always match public opinion about guilt.
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