False Verdict

One obviously opposed to the principles of right and justice. The false verdict of jurors, whether occasioned by embracery or not, was anciently considered as criminal, and, therefore, exemplarily punished by attaint, but by 6 Geo. IV. c. 50 the writ of attaint was wholly abolished and superseded by the practice of setting aside the first verdict and granting new trials; 3 Bla. Com. 402.

An untrue verdict Formerly, if a jury gave a false verdict, the party injured by it might sue out and prosecute a writ of attaint against them, either at common law or on the stafute 11 Hen. VII. c. 24, at his election, for the purpose of reversing the judgment and punishing the jury for their verdict; but not where the jury erred merely in point of law, if they found according to the judge's direction. The practice of setting aside verdicts and granting new trials, however, so superseded the use of attaints that there is no instance of one to be found in the books of reports later than in the time of Elizabeth, and it was altogether abolished by 6 Geo. IV. c. 50, § 60. Wbarton.

Defined under Verdict in Black's Law Dictionary.