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is entered, so that the motion in arrest of judgment has been largely superseded.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