Scottish criminal law is unique in having three possible verdicts for a criminal trial: "guilty", "not guilty" and "not proven". Both "not guilty" and "not proven" result in an acquittal. The 'not proven' verdict in modern Scots criminal law can be described as an historical accident. Historically, there were no set forms for verdicts used by early juries, and their role was simply to find the guilt or innocence of the accused. The role of the jury changed when it became customary in the Justice Court to compose lengthy indictments, where facts were listed which culminated in a statement of the punishable character
Presumed Guilty (film) corrupt, the judicial process slow, and the service from public servants is poor.” Some other startling facts that the documentary display for the viewers are the following: • 95% of verdicts are convictions • 92% of those convictions are not based on physical evidence • 78% of inmates are fed by their own families • 93% of inmates are never shown arrest warrants • 93% of defendants never see a judge The story of "Presumed Guilty" was made into an episode of the TV series "P.O.V." that aired on 27 July 2010. It subsequently was nominated to three Emmy awards