AUTREFOIS ACQUIT, crim. law, pleading. A plea made by a defendant, indicted
for a crime or misdemeanor, that he has formerly been tried and acquitted of
the same offence. See a form of this plea in Arch. Cr. Pl. 90.
2. To be a bar, the acquittal must have been by trial, and by the
verdict of a jury on a valid indictment. Hawk. B. 2, c. 25, s. 1; 4 Bl. Com.
335. There must be an acquittal of the offence charged in law and in fact.
Stark. Pl. 355; 2 Swift's Dig. 400 1 Chit. Cr. Law, 452; 2 Russ. on Cr. 41.
3. The Constitution of the U. S., Amend. Art. 5, provides that no
person shall be subject for the same offence to be put twice in jeopardy of
life or limb. Vide generally, 12 Serg. & Rawle, 389; Yelv. 205 a, note.