Page:Black's Law Dictionary (Second Edition).djvu/29

Rh acquitted by the jury but by the judgment of Burgess v. Boetefeur, 7 Man. & G. 481, 504: People v. Lyman, 53 App. Div. 470, 65 N. Y. Supp. 1062. And be may be legally acquitted by a judgment rendered other wise than: in pursuance of a verdict, as where he is discharged by a magistrate because of the insufficiency of the evidence, or the indictment is dismissed by the court or a nol. pros. entered. Junction City v. Kceffe. 40 Kan. 275. 19 Pac 735; People v. Lymann, 53 App. Div. 470. 65 N. Y. Supp. 1062; Lee v. State. 26 Ark. 200, 7 Am. Rep. 611; Morgan County v. Johnson. 31 1nd. 453. But compare Wilson v. Com., 3 Bush (Ky.) 105; State v. Champeau, 52 Vt. 313, 315. 36. Am. Rep. 754.

Acquittals in fact are those which take place when the jury, upon trial, finds a verdict of not guilty.

Acquittals in law are those which take place by mere operation of law; as where a man has been charged merely as an accessory, and the principal has been acquitted. 2 Co. inst 364.

In feudal law. The obligation on the part of a mesne lord to protect his tenant from any claims. entries, or molestations by iords paramount arising out of the services due to them by the mesne lord. See Co. Lltt. 100a.

In contracts. A written discharge, whereby one is freed from an obligation to pay money or perform a duty. it differs from a release in not requiring to be under seal.

This word, though perhaps not strictly speaking synonymous with "reccipt," includes it. A receipt is one form of an acquittance; a discharge is another. A receipt in full is an acquittance, and a receipt for a part of a demand or obligation is an acquittance pro tanto. State v. Shelters. 51 Vt. 104, 31 Am. Rep. 679.

Released: absolved; purged of an accusation; judicially discharged from accusation; released from debt, etc. Includes both civil and criminal prosecutions. Dolloway v. Turriil, 26 Wend. (N. Y.) 383, 399.

A quantity of land containing 160 square rods of land. in whatever shape. Sam. Land Laws Pa. 185; Cro. Eliz. 476, 665; 6 Coke, 67; Poph. 55: Co. Lltt. 5b.

Originally the word "acre" (acer, aker, or Sax. æcer) was not used as s measure of land. or to signify any determinate quantity of land, but to denote any open ground, (latum qunatumvis argum,) wide champaign, or field: which is still the meaning of the German acker derived probably from the same source, and is preserved in the names of some places in England, as Castle Acre, South Acre, etc. Burrill.

A camp or held fight; a sort of duel, or judicial combat, anciently fought by single combatants, English and Scotch, between the frontiers of the two kingdoms with sword and lance Called "campfight." and the combatants "champions," from the open field that was the stage or trial. Cowell.

Under a grant of a right of way across the plaintiffs lot of land, the grantee has not a right to enter at one place, go partly across, and then come out at another place on the same side of the lot. Comstock v. Van Deusen, 5 Pick (Mass) 163. See Brown v. Meady, 10 Me. 391, 23 Am. Dec. 248.

v. In Scotch practice. To do or perform judicially; to enter or record. Surety "acted in the Books of Adjournal" 1 Broun. 4.

n. In its most general sense. this noun signifies something done voluntarily by a person: the exercise of an individual's power; an effect produced in the external world by an exercise of the power of a person objectively, prompted by intention, and proximately caused by a motion of the will. In a more technical sense, it means something done voluntarily by It person, and of such a nature that certain legal consequences attach to it. Duncan v. Landis. 106 Fed. 839. 45 C. G. A. 666. Thus a grantor acknowledges the conveyance to be his "act and deed." the terms being synonymous.

In the civil law. An act is a writing which states in a legal form that a thing has been said, done, or agreed. Merl. Repert.

In practice. Anything done by a court and reduced to writing; a decree, judgment. resolve. rule. order, or other Judicial proceeding. In Scotch low, the orders and decrees of a court, and in French and German law, all the records and documents in an action. are coiled "acts."

In legislation. A written law, formally ordained or passed by the legislative power of a state, called in England an "act of parliament." and in the United States an "act of congress," or of the "legislature " a statute. People v. Tiphaine, 3 Parker, C. R. (N. Y.) 241; United States v. Smith, 27 Fed. Cas. 1167

Acts are either public or private. Public acts (also called general acts, or general statutes, or statutes at large) are those which relate to the community generally, or establish a uinversal rule for the governance of the whole body politic. Private acts (formerly called special, Co. Litt. 12154) are those which relate either to particular persons (personal acts) or to particular places, (local acts.) or which operate only upon specified individuals or their private concerns.

In Scotch practice. An abbreviation of actor. (proctor or advocate. especially for a plaintiff or pursuer,) used in records. "Act A. Alt. B." an abbreviation of Actor. A. Alter. B.: that is, for the pursuer or plaintiff, A., for the defender, B. 1 Broun, 336, note.

—Act book. In Scotch practice. The minute book of a court. 1 Swin. 8l.—Act in pain. An act done or performed out of court, and not a matter of record. A deed or an assurance transacted between two or more private persons in the country, that is, according to the old common law, upon the very spot to be