Q&A: If They All Convicted Him — He Is Acquitted
If They All Convicted Him — He Is Acquitted
Question
Hello Rabbi, in your opinion is there an explanation for the law brought at the end of the first chapter of tractate Sanhedrin, that if a religious court all found the defendant liable for death, he is acquitted? I mean a non-technical explanation — not "because that way we would be unable to delay the verdict until the next day" — but a substantive one. As I understand it, this only strengthens the fact that they all convicted him, because it shows that it is as clear as day that he is guilty and there is no reasoning at all to acquit him, and nobody disputes it because it is obvious that he is guilty. Thank you very much.
Answer
The accepted explanation is that if they all convict him, there is concern that the judgment is biased, because in almost every case there are aspects that could be viewed more leniently, and out of 23 judges we would expect at least one to acquit him.