Also known as: condemned · convicted
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A person condemned, especially in a capital case. The designation attached after a formal judgment of guilt and carried specific legal disabilities.
A status of condemnation resulting from conduct declared unlawful. The label marked the individual as outside legal protection.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
A person condemned, especially in a capital case. The designation attached after a formal judgment of guilt and carried specific legal disabilities.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A status of condemnation resulting from conduct declared unlawful. The label marked the individual as outside legal protection.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Delilah Duran proposed diverting client funds and shook hands with Devon Drake on the plan. Drake had already contacted investigators and never intended to participate. Because Drake lacked genuine shared intent, Duran could not be convicted of conspiracy and escaped the status of damnatus.
Diana Delgado was convicted of theft but later received a certificate of rehabilitation. When the prosecution sought to use the conviction to impeach her, the court excluded the evidence because the pardon established rehabilitation and no subsequent felony existed. Delgado therefore avoided the lasting mark of damnatus for evidentiary purposes.
Daphne Doyle believed she was suborning perjury by asking a witness to sign a false affidavit. The statement she sought was not material to any proceeding. Because no crime would have occurred even if events unfolded as planned, Doyle could not be convicted of attempt and was not deemed damnatus.
Dominion Capital's general counsel attended a party hosted by a convicted racketeer. Numerous organized-crime figures were present. The judicial conduct board found the appearance of impropriety and imposed discipline, treating the lawyer as damnatus for ethical purposes despite no proof of actual bias.
The Roman-law sense attaches after a judgment of condemnation, particularly in capital cases. The historical sense applies whenever conduct is declared unlawful by positive law.
Supporting sources
A pardon based on rehabilitation removes the conviction for many purposes and eliminates the evidentiary disabilities that accompany the status of damnatus.
Dorothy Daniels was acquitted in criminal court but later faced a civil proceeding over her mother's estate. The court found by a preponderance that she had intentionally killed the decedent. That determination rendered her the damnatus and barred any inheritance.
Deborah Dunn and her co-conspirators completed the planned arson. The court convicted them of the completed felony but refused a separate conspiracy conviction. The merger doctrine meant the agreement itself did not produce an independent damnatus.
The historical sense marks conduct as unlawful even absent conviction. The Roman-law sense, however, presupposes a judgment.
Supporting sources
…really responsible for," id., at 562 , and again, "We know that morally you were just in anger. Morally, you are not to be condemned," id., at 582 . [^maj-13]: Inbau & Reid, supra , at 43-55. [^maj-14]: O'Hara, supra , at 112. [^maj-15]: Inbau & Reid, supra , at 40. [^maj-16]: Ibid. [^maj-17]: O'Hara, supra ,…