ARREST OF JUDGMENT

arrest of judgment.The staying of a judgment after its entry; esp., a court’s refusal to render or

enforce a judgment because of a defect apparent from the record. • At common law, courts have

the  power  to  arrest  judgment  for  intrinsic  causes  appearing  on  the  record,  as  when  the  verdict

differs  materially  from  the  pleadings  or  when  the  case  alleged  in  the  pleadings  is  legally

insufficient. Today, this type of defect must typically be objected to before trial or before judgment

is entered, so that the  motion in arrest of judgment has been largely superseded. — Also termed

allocutus.  [Cases:  Criminal  Law    966–976;  Judgment    259–269.  C.J.S.  Criminal  Law  §§

1453–1457; Judgments §§ 95–105.]

“An arrest of judgment [under common law] was the technical term  describing the act of a

trial judge refusing to enter judgment on the verdict because of an error appearing on the face of

the record that rendered the judgment invalid.” United States v. Sisson, 399 U.S. 267, 280–81, 90

S.Ct. 2117, 2125 (1970). [Blacks Law 8th]