[RIghtwardHo]

Not true. All trial judges have that authority. Been around from the get go. It is just VERY rare.

[null and void]

OK. Then I’m wrong here.

[FredZarguna]

One reason is that in most jurisdictions there are significant qualifications to the judge's ability to do this which make it pretty easy for an appeals court to slap down his NOV.

In PA, the standard is that the evidentiary finding of the jury has to be so bad as to be "shocking to the conscience." I believe in some states there is a requirement that before taking this step the trail judge must review and weigh all evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution.

Those are both MUCH higher standards than "if this were a bench trial I would have acquitted."