Legal Definitions - unsafe

In legal terms, a verdict or judgment is considered unsafe when it is highly probable that an appeals court will overturn or reverse it due to a significant error or defect that occurred during the original trial or legal proceedings.

Here are some examples illustrating when a verdict or judgment might be deemed unsafe:

• Imagine a criminal trial where the judge mistakenly gave the jury incorrect instructions about a crucial point of law. For instance, the judge might have misexplained the burden of proof required for a specific charge. If the jury then convicts the defendant based on these flawed instructions, the resulting verdict would be considered unsafe.

  This illustrates an unsafe verdict because a fundamental legal error (incorrect jury instructions) directly impacted the jury's decision-making process, making it likely that an appeals court would find the conviction unreliable and overturn it.

• Consider a civil lawsuit where a business was ordered to pay substantial damages, but it is later discovered that critical evidence presented by the winning side was fabricated or withheld. For example, a key financial report used to calculate damages was intentionally falsified by one party and only uncovered after the trial concluded.

  This judgment would be deemed unsafe because the outcome was based on fraudulent or incomplete information, representing a severe defect in the evidence presented. An appeals court would likely reverse the judgment, potentially ordering a new trial, as the original decision was not based on a true and fair presentation of facts.

• Suppose a defendant is convicted of a crime, but after the trial, new, compelling DNA evidence emerges that conclusively points to a different individual as the perpetrator, and this evidence was not available or discoverable at the time of the original trial.

  In this scenario, the conviction would be considered unsafe because the emergence of definitive exculpatory evidence reveals a profound defect in the original finding of guilt. An appeals court would likely overturn the conviction, as continuing to uphold it would constitute a miscarriage of justice given the new information.