Reasonable doubt is the legal burden of proof necessary to affirm that an individual is convicted in a criminal case. This is because, in the US, every individual is considered innocent until proven guilty. During this case, the prosecution is obliged to prove that the defendant is guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. The prosecution will be required to prove to the jury that it is impossible that the accused is not guilty based on the evidence they plan to present at the trial. Jury members have to be sure that the defendant is guilty so that they can provide a verdict. Reasonable doubt is considered to be the highest level of proof and is what will be required before the court comes to a guilty verdict.
The judge must be fully convinced based on the evidence available. The proof must be able to expose how the defendant is guilty to the point that any person can see that the evidence is correct. A slightly less valuable level of evidence provided for this type of case is called the preponderance of evidence, and it must have a higher than 50% accuracy, although it is considered on a lower level than proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Clear and convincing evidence is slightly more accurate than the preponderance of the evidence, although it falls below evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Any proof beyond a reasonable doubt is accepted in most courts around the world. This only applies to criminal cases and not civil ones.
An example of a case that uses beyond a reasonable doubt is when the judge and jury have a reasonable doubt regarding a defendant’s innocence. If they have proof beyond a reasonable doubt that they are not guilty, then the defendant can’t be convicted of the crime they are being accused of. That is because proof beyond a reasonable doubt is considered the highest level of evidence, although it’s not stated in the US constitution. To override any proof that is at the reasonable doubt level, the evidence would have to be more convincing and more clear to oppose the previous verdict.
In the US court system, the presumption of innocence presides unless the prosecution team can prove otherwise. This is why the prosecution team must provide proof if they are providing a guilty verdict. To fulfill their burden of proof, they can do this through three levels of evidence, including beyond a reasonable doubt, probable cause, and reasonable suspicion. They gather evidence through an investigation to help them create a story showing how the defendant is guilty. Testimonies, photographs, videos, physical evidence, and many other forms of proof can be used to show how guilty the defendant is.
