innocent

Innocent

Absent guilt; acting in Good Faith with no knowledge of defects, objections, or inculpative circumstances.

A person accused of and prosecuted for the commission of a crime is presumed innocent until proved guilty Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

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innocent adj. without guilt (not guilty). Usually the plea which an accused criminal defendant gives to the court at the time of his/her first appearance (or after a continued appearance). Such pleas often disturb the public in cases in which guilt seems obvious from the start. However, everyone is entitled to a fair trial, and the innocent plea gives defense lawyers an opportunity to investigate, find extenuating circumstances, develop reasons punishment should be lenient, bargain with the District Attorney, and let the memories of witnesses fade. (See: plea, plea bargain, arraignment)

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innocent adjective blameless, culpa vacuus, free from guilt, guiltless, innocens, insons, sinless, unoffending, upright, virtuous, without harm, without offense
Associated concepts: innocent holder for value, innocent misrepresentation, innocent mistake, innocent purchaser, innocent third party, innocent trespass
Foreign phrases: Minatur innocentibus qui parcit nocennibus.He who spares the guilty threatens those who are innocent.

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See also: blameless, clean, harmless, honest, inculpable, inexperienced, infant, ingenuous, innocuous, irreprehensible, moral, naive, nontoxic, not guilty, pardonable, pure, sincere, unaffected, unblemished, unimpeachable, unsuspecting