民法中和刑法中表达不同意思的“acquit”

acquit及其名词形式acquittal在法律英语中十分常见，它在在刑法中表示“宣告无罪”或“无罪释放”；在民法中，表示“免除（义务、责任）”，即release or discharge as from an obligation，responsibility etc.。 下面我们通过以下几个例句来对该词进行一次较为彻底的学习。
例1：The conviction was overturned at last and an acquittal entered.
译：判决最终被推翻，结果是无罪释放。
例2：In 1999, Rehnquist became the second chief justice in U.S. history to preside over a presidential impeachment – that of President Bill Clinton, who was acquitted.
译：伦奎斯特于1999年成为美国历史上第二位主持弹劾总统的首席大法官，克林顿总统最终被宣告无罪。
例3：He was arrested in 1985 and charged with murder. Then he was acquitted in 1986 after spending 10 months in jail. However, in 1992 he was re-tried and convicted. Dramatically, he was discovered to be innocent and finally acquitted on DNA evidence in his third trial in 1995.
译：他于1985年被捕并被指控犯有谋杀罪。1986年，他在监狱度过10各月之后被无罪释放。但是，1992年他再次受审并被判刑。具有戏剧意义的是，后来他被发现无罪，并于1995年依DNA证据在第三次受审后被无罪释放。
评：事实上，从理论上来讲，在美国，犯罪嫌疑人在被宣告无罪后，不得因同一罪行再次被起诉，否则，这就侵犯了公民的不受“双重追诉”（double jeopardy）的宪法权利。
例4：After O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend, their relatives files a civil suit against him for actual and punitive damages caused by the killings.
译：O.J.辛普森在其前妻、前妻朋友谋杀一案被无罪释放后，受害人的亲属对他提起了民事诉讼，要求他赔偿由杀人行为引起的实际以及惩罚性损害赔偿金。
评：需要注意的是，在刑事领域，我们虽然可以将acquit或acquittal翻译为“宣告无罪”，实际上不太精确。学习acquit或acquittal时，我们需要理解它们的内涵：An acquittal is not a finding of innocence; it is simply a conclusion that the persecution has not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. 这就是说：acquittal并非是一个“无罪判决”，而是检方不能“排除合理怀疑”，进而法院判定被告人“有罪”的一种“宣告”。