Editing Roscoe Arbuckle (section)

====Third trial====
[[File:ArbuckleExonerated1922.jpg|thumb|upright|News story of the not-guilty verdict, 1922]]
By the time of Arbuckle's third trial, his films had been banned and newspapers had been filled for the past seven months with stories of Hollywood orgies, murder and sexual perversion. Delmont was touring the country performing one-woman shows based on her involvement with the case and lecturing on the evils of Hollywood.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}

The third trial began on March 13, 1922, and McNab took a forceful approach, attacking the prosecution's case with long and aggressive examination and cross-examination of each witness. McNab also introduced more evidence about Rappe's lurid past and medical history. The prosecution's case was weakened because Prevon, a key witness, was out of the country after fleeing police custody and unable to testify.<ref name="trutv1"/> As in the first trial, Arbuckle testified as the final witness and maintained his denial of any wrongdoing. During closing statements, McNab reviewed the flaws in the case and attacked Brady for believing Delmont's outlandish charges, a woman whom McNab described as "the complaining witness who never witnessed." The jury began deliberations April 12 and took only six minutes to return with a unanimous not-guilty verdict. Five of those minutes were spent writing a formal statement of apology to Arbuckle for subjecting him to the ordeal, a dramatic and unusual gesture. The jury statement read:<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-27 |title=OPINION {{!}} OLD NEWS: Fatty Arbuckle found innocent after three trials; judgment came too late for his career |url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/sep/27/arbuckle-not-guilty-career-ruined/ |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=Arkansas Online |language=en}}</ref>

{{quotation|Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him. We feel also that it was only our plain duty to give him this exoneration, under the evidence, for there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed. The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible. We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and woman who have sat listening for thirty-one days to evidence, that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame.}}

Some experts{{Who|date=October 2023}} later concluded that Rappe's bladder may have ruptured as a result of an abortion procedure that she may have undergone shortly before the party. However, her organs had been destroyed and it was now impossible to test her for pregnancy. Because alcohol was consumed at the party, Arbuckle pled guilty to one count of violating the [[Volstead Act]] and was ordered to pay a $500 fine ({{Inflation|US|500|1922|r=-3|fmt=eq}}). At the time of his acquittal, he owed more than $700,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|.7|1922|r=0}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}{{inflation-fn|US}}) in legal fees to his attorneys for the three criminal trials, and he was forced to sell his house and all of his cars to pay some of the debt.<ref name="trutv1"/>