Eli5 – How can someone be proven not guilty of murder in criminal court but still sued in civil court?

Question

Eli5 – How can someone be proven not guilty of murder in criminal court but still sued in civil court?

In: 19

Answer 1

The different courts have different burdens of proof. In a criminal court the onus is heavily on the prosecution to prove guilt *beyond a reasonable doubt*. Most evidence presented is somewhat circumstantial (short of a credible witness explaining how they saw the accused doing the whole thing) so it’s up to the juror to decide whether the evidence as a whole convinces them that they are definitely guilty.

Civil court only requires the case to be proven on a balance of probabilities: is it more probable than not that they did it? In other words if you’re 50.1% sure in a civil case you can convict but you need to be closer to 99% to convict in a criminal court.