Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan
reasonable doubt
is there a legal definition for beyond a reasonable doubt?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: reasonable doubt
Our standard criminal jury instructions (numbers 1.9 and 3.2) define reasonable doubt to juries this way:
"A reasonable doubt is a fair, honest doubt growing out of the evidence or lack of evidence. It is not merely an imaginary or possible doubt, but a doubt based on reason and common sense. A reasonable doubt is just that -- a doubt that is reasonable, after a careful and considered examination of the facts and circumstances of this case."
Some judges may give a slightly different spin, but this is pretty much it. The doubt cannot be some pie-in-the-sky possibility ... something that's unreasonable. It has to be something that's reasonable arising from evidence in the case, or the lack of evidence in the case.
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