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Burden of Proof in a Criminal Case - YouTube
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in this video we're talking about a very
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important concept which is called a
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burden of proof this is very important
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in criminal cases it's something that
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you've probably heard about if you've
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ever watched the lawyer movie or a crime
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TV show it's called beyond a reasonable
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doubt it's the highest level to the
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highest burden of proof that the
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government must meet in order to find
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somebody guilty what many people don't
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know or what haven't heard about is all
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of these other different levels these
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different standards of proof that exist
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in the law and we're going to talk about
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some of the most common and how this
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works is we have a chart here we have
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it's a series of steps ranging from the
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smallest amount of evidence to the most
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amount of evidence in order to reach
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different levels of proof and so we're
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going to run through those and explain
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how those might apply in a criminal case
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and more specifically what evidence the
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government must meet in order to
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actually support a guilty conviction
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so we'll start down here we start down
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here the government has not presented
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their case and so of course there can
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not be any guilt there cannot be any
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conviction but if the government
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presents all of their evidence presents
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their testimony and they present nothing
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to support a conclusion of guilt that
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means they presented no evidence and so
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if you take if you start here and you
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take a step up and the government has
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presented no evidence you're gonna be
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found not guilty okay an ng not guilty
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the next level up is what's called a
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scintilla of evidence this is a legal
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standard a scintilla of evidence means
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almost no evidence but a very small
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amount just a very a speck of evidence
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and that is not enough to support a
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conviction in a criminal case so if the
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government presents a scintilla of
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evidence and you stand at this step it's
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another not guilty the next level up is
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what's called reasonable suspicion and
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this is where there's there's more
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evidence it's reasonable for somebody to
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be suspicious to believe that this may
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or may not have happened but it's
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reasonable for somebody to have at some
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level of suspicion if the government
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presents
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meaning that it's it's reasonable for a
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jury to think that that activity was
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suspicious that may may be suspicious
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but that's not guilty so if they present
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evidence that meets this level that's
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another not guilty
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PC this is the next step up this is
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what's called probable cause so this
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means that there's a next level up
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there's a bit more evidence than
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reasonable suspicion but it's still not
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enough to meet the government's burden
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to support a finding of guilt in a
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criminal case and so even if they have
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probable cause to believe that there's
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something that happened that was
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something criminal in nature it's still
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still not guilty here the next level up
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is what's called preponderance of the
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evidence this means that it's more
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likely than not based on the
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preponderance of the evidence based on
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everything that has been presented that
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it's more likely than not that this
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actually happened that this person did
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it and still not guilty still not guilty
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here the next level up is what's called
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clear and convincing evidence so this is
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when it's firmly believed that it's
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pretty clear it's it's convincing
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we have strong beliefs it's evidently
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clear that this person did this they're
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responsible for it this is a legal
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standard that's used in case law
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throughout the country just like all
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these others still not enough to find
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somebody guilty of a crime not guilty
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here the next level is what's called
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reasonable doubt if there is doubt any
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amount of doubt that's reasonable about
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what happened in a particular criminal
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case if there's any reasonable doubt at
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all
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still not guilty here
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still not guilty the only way that you
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can find somebody guilty in a criminal
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case is if you can go beyond a
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reasonable doubt meaning if there's any
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doubt based in reason and you can still
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you can still find the beyond that the
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the amount of evidence is beyond any
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single reasonable doubt that a person
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committed a crime only then can that
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person be found guilty okay so this is
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where it's very important to understand
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that there are all of these different
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standards beyond a reasonable doubt is
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the highest in our law and that means
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that the government has a lot of hurdles
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to jump through so just because
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something may have happened or just
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because you believe that the evidence is
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insurmountable you have to remember when
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you start a case any criminal case you
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start down here we don't have to
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disprove that anything happened we don't
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have to disprove a single item at this
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point at the beginning of any criminal
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case you are 100% innocent it's the
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government's job it's their
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responsibility to prove that you are
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guilty beyond a reasonable doubt there's
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all these different levels of
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culpability where you could be falling
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into this category into one of these
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categories but that doesn't mean that
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you're guilty so remember that when you
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come to our office when you want to
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speak with our team it's not our job to
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disprove that anything happened at all
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it's the government's job to prove it we
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don't have to give them an inch they
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have to earn it right and they have to
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do a job that proves it beyond any
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single reasonable doubt because
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reasonable doubt at this level is not
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enough they have to prove beyond the
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reasonable doubt so I hope this helps
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understand I helped you understand a
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little bit more about how our law works
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here hopefully you don't find yourself
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in this situation but if you do give our
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office a call
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we offer free case evaluation we're
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happy to sit down with you and talk
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about the strength of your case and how
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you can put this whole situation behind
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you and come out with the least damage
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possible thanks for watching
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you
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