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           Buttherearecountlessotherreasonswhythejudges"moodandtheirlegalacumeninthecasecanbealtered,andeffortstoobtainthesecondacquittalmustthereforebesuitedtothenewconditions,andgenerallyjustasvigorousasthefirst.""Butthissecondacquittalwillonceagainnotbefinal,"saidK.,shakinghishead."Ofcoursenot,"saidthepainter,"thesecondacquittalisfollowedbythethirdarrest,thethirdacquittalbythefourtharrestandsoon.That’swhatismeantbythetermapparentacquittal."K.wassilent."Youclearlydon’tthinkanapparentacquittaloffersmuchadvantage,"saidthepainter,"perhapsdefermentwouldsuityoubetter.Wouldyoulikemetoexplainwhatdefermentisabout?"K.nodded.Thepainterhadleantbackandspreadhimselfoutinhischair,hisnightshirtwaswideopen,hehadpushedhishandinsideandwasstrokinghisbreastandhissides."Deferment,"saidthepainter,lookingvaguelyinfrontofhimselfforawhileasiftryingtofindaperfectlyappropriateexplanation,"defermentconsistsofkeepingproceedingspermanentlyintheirearlieststages.Todothat,theaccusedandthosehelpinghimneedtokeepincontinuouspersonalcontactwiththecourt,especiallythosehelpinghim.Irepeat,thisdoesn’trequiresomucheffortasgettinganapparentacquittal,butitprobablyrequiresalotmoreattention.