what does “beyond a reasonable doubt” mean?
In: 7
Imagine coming home to see your favorite vase broken. At home are your 5 year old child, your spouse, and your dog. All 3 of them are suspects.
You ask your spouse who broke it and they answer “oh sorry, honey, I was so busy I didn’t even notice!”
You ask your kid and they answer “it’s the dog!”
Your dog whimpers, unable to mount any credible defense.
Since you’re vaguely aware of proof beyond reasonable doubt, you check further:
– no dog footprints in the vicinity of the vase
– the cookie jar beside the vase has been opened
– your kid has a new cut on his forearm
Based on these evidence, you harbor reasonable doubt that it’s the dog since the evidence seems to point elsewhere.
Could it be your kid? You check his breath: it smells of cookies. You check the broken pieces of the vase and you see blood leading to your kid’s room. He sees where you’re going with this and hides.
You’re now as certain as you possibly can without having been there at the precise moment it happened: your kid did it. Reasonable doubt is being able to say with certainty that the person you suspect, and not anyone else, is responsible.
Had your standard been ‘preponderance of evidence’ or ‘substantial evidence’, your kid exclaiming “it’s the dog!” would have been enough.
Source: I am a law professor
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