The Trial - The Complexity of Judicial Outcomes
Titorelli:
You see, in definite acquittal, all the documents are annulled. But with ostensible acquittal, your whole dossier continues to circulate. Up to the higher courts, down to the lower ones, up again, down. These oscillations and peregrinations, you just can't figure em.
Josef K.:
No use in trying either, I suppose.
Titorelli:
Not a hope. Why, I've known cases of an acquitted man coming home from the court and finding the cops waiting there to arrest him all over again. But then, of course, theoretically it's always possible to get another ostensible acquittal.
Josef K.:
The second acquittal wouldn't be final either.
Titorelli:
It's automatically followed by the third arrest. The third acquittal, by the fourth arrest. The fourth...
Josef K.:
I think what surprises me most is how ignorant I am about everything concerning this court of yours. For an accused man, that's a mistake. He should never let himself be caught napping, never for a minute let his eye stray to the left, when for all he knows, a judge or somebody like that can be lurking somewhere to the right.
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