what does “beyond a reasonable doubt” mean?
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So, there isn’t going to be an exact answer as it is argued among legal scholars to no end.
Some (usually defense focused) people will make the argument that it is such a high burden that you are 99.9% sure of something.
The ‘classic’ Blackstone ratio “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” is realistically to low in modern times for even the most pro-prosecution person. *That said Blackstone was alive before even the most rudimentary forensic science was a thing. Basically unless you were caught/scene committing a crime you’d get away with it unless you did something so blatantly stupid that you incriminated yourself*
The small town judge I used to clerk for would say things like ‘if you were driving to court this morning and became concerned that you didn’t lock your door and would actually turn the car around to check, that is reasonable doubt’
worth noting that even the most defense focused group will not try to turn it into ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt’ which is of course impossible because even right now there is a not zero % chance that as soon as I click comment that a meteor won’t fall from the sky and kill me. (but no one would claim that it is a reasonable concern)
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