the decision of a jury after a trial, which must be accepted by the trial judge
to be final. A judgment by a judge sitting without a jury is not a verdict. A "special
verdict" is a decision by the jury on the factual questions in the case, leaving
the application of the law to those facts to the judge, who makes the final judgment.
A "directed verdict" is a decision following an instruction by the judge that the
jury can only bring in a specific verdict ("based on the evidence you must bring
in a verdict of 'not guilty'"). A "chance verdict" (decided by lot or the flip of
a coin), a "compromise verdict" (based on some jurors voting against their beliefs
to break a deadlock) and a "quotient verdict" (averaging the amount each juror wants
to award) are all improper and will result in a mistrial (having the verdict thrown
out by the judge) or be cause for reversal of the judgment on appeal.
See also compromise verdict directed verdict judgment quotient verdict special
verdict
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