Conviction
Conviction is a legal finding that a person is guilty of a criminal offence. It may follow a trial verdict, a guilty plea, or another accepted court procedure that creates a formal finding of guilt.
On criminal biography pages, a conviction should identify the offence, the date when available, the court or authority when relevant, and the penalty imposed. A conviction is separate from an arrest or charge because it records the final finding of guilt rather than the start of a criminal case.
Use on criminal pages
[edit | edit source]Convictions are usually described in the criminal history section of a person page. They may also appear in an infobox when the page uses criminal fields for charges, penalties, and status.
A clear conviction entry should state the offence and sentence in direct terms. For example, a person convicted of robbery and sentenced to two years in prison should be described as a convicted robber, with the sentence placed in the same paragraph or infobox field.