CONVICT

One who has been con- demned by a competent court. One who has been convicted of a crime or misde- meanor. To condemn. To find guilty of a crime or misdemeanor. 4 Bla. Com. 362.

(290) estates as are holden in ancient demesne or in manors of a similar nature. The usual method is by surrender followed by admittance. 2 Dav. Prec. Conv. 198. See ADMITTANCE; BARGAIN AND SALE, 22; COVENANT; GRANT; SURRENDER; USE. 10. In the narrower sense of the word, "conveyance" signifies the instrument employed to effectuate an ordinary purchase of freehold land (e. g. the modern deed), as opposed to settlements, wills, leases, partitions, &c. CONVEYANCE, (in registry act). 49 Cal. 193, L. R. 10 Ch. App. 12. (power to sue for or demand). 10 Pet. (U. S.) 182. CONVEYANCE, LAWFUL DEED OF, (in an agreement, defined). 2 Serg. & R. (Pa.) 498, 500. CONVEYED, (in an agreement). 27 Pa. St. 26.

Conveyancing. That branch of the law which treats of transfers of realty. Includes the examinations of titles, and the preparation of instruments of transfer. In England, Scotland, and some of our larger cities, it is a highly artificial system of law, with a distinct class of practitioners.1 1, v. To find guilty of a criminal offense, by verdict of a jury. 2, n. One who has been found guilty of a crime; in particular, one who is serving a sentence for the commission of a crime. Convicted. Found guilty of the crime whereof one stands indicted: which may accrue from his confessing the offense and pleading guilty, or by his being found so by verdict of his country.3 A man is "convicted" when he is found guilty or confesses the crime before judgment had.4 Incapable of holding office or testifying because "convicted of crime" intends a verdict of guilt and judgment thereon.5 Conviction. 1. Used to designate a particular stage of a criminal prosecution triable by a jury, the ordinary legal meaning is, the confession of the accused in court, or the verdict returned against him by the jury, which ascertains and publishes the fact of his guilt.6 "Judgment" or "sentence" is the appropriate word to denote the action of the court before which the trial is had, declaring the consequences to the convict of the fact thus ascertained. See SENTENCE. The finding by the jury that the accused is guilty; but, in legal parlance, often denotes the final judgment of the court." The act of convicting or overcoming one; in criminal procedure, the overthrow of the defendant by the establishment of his guilt according to some known legal mode plea of guilty or verdict of a jury.8 a The term may be used in such connection as to have a secondary or unusual meaning, which would include the final judgment of the court. 8 1 Bouvier's Law Dict. 2 L. con-vincere, to completely overcome. 3 [4 Bl. Com. 362. Shepherd v. People, 25 N. Y. 406 (1862), cases; 1 Bish. Cr. L. § 223. Faunce v. People, 51 III. 313 (1869); Smith v. State, 6 Lea, 639 (1881). Commonwealth v. Lockwood, 109 Mass. 325-40 (1872), cases, Gray, J.; Dwar. Stat., 2 ed., 683. 7 Blaufus v. People, 69 N. Y. 109 (1877), cases, Folger, J.; Schiffer v. Pruden, 64 id. 52 (1876); 5 Bush, 204; 48 Me. 127; 3 Mo. 602; 25 Gratt. 853; 12 Ct. Cl. 201. 8 United States v. Watkinds, 7 Saw. 91-93 (1881), Deady, J. In many cases refers to a finding of guilt by a verdict or plea of guilty, and not to the sentence in addition.1 Opposed, acquit, acquitted, acquittal, q. v. Former conviction. A plea that the accused has already been tried and convicted of the offense charged. Opposed, former acquittal. Second convictions, or even second trials, after legal conviction or acquittal, are not allowed. The pleas of autrefois convict and autrefois acquit are grounded upon the universal maxim of the common law that no man is to be brought into jeopardy of his life more than once for the same offense. The defense must be pleaded, and it must be alleged and proved by the former record that the conviction or acquittal was legal, and based on the verdict of a jury duly impaneled and sworn, else the plea will be subject to demurrer. 2 A plea which shows that the former sentence has been reversed for error is not a good bar. See further JEOPARDY. Compare ADJUDICATION, Former. Summary conviction. (1) Such sentence as may be pronounced by a court without the intervention of a jury. At common law, peculiar to punishment for contempts, q. υ. (2) A trial of an offense against the excise or revenue laws, determined by the commissioner of the particular department or by a justice of the peace.4 (3) A sentence pronounced by a committing magistrate, without a hearing and verdict by a jury. This is what is generally meant. It is provided for by statute, for the punishment of the lighter offenses; and intended to secure the accused a speedy trial, as well as to relieve society and the higher courts of the annoyance of jury trials in petty cases. But the proceeding is in derogation of the constitutional right of trial by jury, and statutory directions are to be strictly pursued. Appeal to a court having a jury is allowed, within a short period, as five days; so that, in reality, these convictions are only submitted to by offenders. See further SUMMARY. See also INDICTMENT; JURY, Trial by; VAGRANT. 2. Firm belief. See ABIDING; DOUBT, Reasonable. 1 Quintard v. Knoedler, 53 Conn. 487-88 (1885); Bishop, Stat. Cr. § 348; Whart. Cr. Pr. & Pl. § 935. Quære. In a prosecution, alleging a "former conviction," do not these words denote "final judgment," and can they be predicated of a suspended judgment? - White v. Commonwealth, 79 Va. 611, 615 (1884). 2 Coleman v. Tennessee, 97 U. S. 525-31 (1878), cases, Clifford, J. 3 Cooley, Const. Lim. 326-28, cases; 1 Bish. Cr. L. §§ 651-80; Whart. Cr. Pl. § 435; Moore v. State, 71 Ala. 308 (1882), cases: 4 Cr. Law Mag. 429, See 4 Bl. Com. 280-83.

Proved or found guilty; convicted. [Obs.] Shak. Convict by flight, and rebel to all law. Milton.

A person proved guilty of a crime alleged against him; one legally convicted or sentenced to punishment for some crime. A criminal sentenced to penal servitude.

To prove or find guilty of an offense or crime charged; to pronounce guilty, as by legal decision, or by one's conscience. He [Baxter] . . . had been convicted by a jury. Macaulay. They which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one. John viii. 9. To prove or show to be false; to confute; to refute. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne. To demonstrate by proof or evidence; to prove. Imagining that these proofs will convict a testament, to have that in it which other men can nowhere by reading find. Hooker. To defeat; to doom to destruction. [Obs.] A whole armado of convicted sail. Shak.

To find guilty, as a result of legal proceedings, or (informal) in a moral sense. | To convince, persuade; to cause (someone) to believe in (something).

A person convicted of a crime by a judicial body. | A person deported to a penal colony. | The convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata), also known as the zebra cichlid, a popular aquarium fish, with stripes that resemble a prison uniform. | A common name for the sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus), owing to its black and gray stripes.