How Preponderance of Evidence Affects Civil and Criminal Cases
In court cases, guilt is ascertained by degrees of certainty that the accused has in fact committed the crime.
To put this simply, a jury or judge must determine whether or not a defendant is guilty by weighting the evidence brought against him or her.
This is called "preponderance of evidence," or the burden of proof.
It is the obligation of the plaintiff or prosecutor (the accusing party) to prove that the defendant (the accused party) is in the wrong.
While all this may sound legalistic and complicated, it is actually relatively simple.
Most people are familiar with the term "innocent until proven guilty," which is a simplistic yet accurate way to think of the legal system in general.
However, what many people don't know, is that it takes much less to "prove" someone guilty in a civil case than it does in a criminal case.
That is, the burden of proof is in some ways substantially less for lawsuits than it is for murder trials.
Lawsuits are incredibly common in the United States, and are vitally important to ensuring that justice is done and that people injured through the negligence of others are properly remunerated.
If you or someone you love is considering filing a lawsuit, or is having criminal charges brought against them, it can be very beneficial to know how what differentiates the two.
Criminal Cases In criminal cases, the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, meaning that the judge or jury must be completely, 100% certain that the defendant committed the crime.
This rule is meant to prevent any innocent parties from being punished if there is not absolute certainty that they are guilty of a crime.
Civil Cases In civil cases, the plaintiff needs only to show that the defendant is probably guilty.
On a strictly legal level, the accuser must show that it is more than 50% likely that the defendant was negligent and that this negligence caused an injury.
The likelihood of culpability of defendants is also used to determine how responsible they are for any injury, and how much of the damages they should be expected to pay.
If it is determined that a defendant's carelessness caused 70% of the accident, he or she will be expected to pay 70% of the total damages.
To put this simply, a jury or judge must determine whether or not a defendant is guilty by weighting the evidence brought against him or her.
This is called "preponderance of evidence," or the burden of proof.
It is the obligation of the plaintiff or prosecutor (the accusing party) to prove that the defendant (the accused party) is in the wrong.
While all this may sound legalistic and complicated, it is actually relatively simple.
Most people are familiar with the term "innocent until proven guilty," which is a simplistic yet accurate way to think of the legal system in general.
However, what many people don't know, is that it takes much less to "prove" someone guilty in a civil case than it does in a criminal case.
That is, the burden of proof is in some ways substantially less for lawsuits than it is for murder trials.
Lawsuits are incredibly common in the United States, and are vitally important to ensuring that justice is done and that people injured through the negligence of others are properly remunerated.
If you or someone you love is considering filing a lawsuit, or is having criminal charges brought against them, it can be very beneficial to know how what differentiates the two.
Criminal Cases In criminal cases, the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, meaning that the judge or jury must be completely, 100% certain that the defendant committed the crime.
This rule is meant to prevent any innocent parties from being punished if there is not absolute certainty that they are guilty of a crime.
Civil Cases In civil cases, the plaintiff needs only to show that the defendant is probably guilty.
On a strictly legal level, the accuser must show that it is more than 50% likely that the defendant was negligent and that this negligence caused an injury.
The likelihood of culpability of defendants is also used to determine how responsible they are for any injury, and how much of the damages they should be expected to pay.
If it is determined that a defendant's carelessness caused 70% of the accident, he or she will be expected to pay 70% of the total damages.