Victory in any court case involves many factors, not just for your attorney but for you as the defendant or plaintiff. While you are most likely not an attorney, you, as a layperson, need to have a general understanding of what you are doing in your court case to “save your bacon” and not spend the rest of your life in prison. I am not an attorney, am not licensed in any state to offer legal services, and am not practicing law, but learned some practical things when I studied law and taught it at a university for several years as a practitioner and served as a Director of Legal Affairs for an organization. So while I am not offering legal opinions or advice, I want to help you in my simplified, non-attorney, general educational way to get started in knowing some important aspects of the court process and Burden of Proof. Some of these things I learned the “hard way” in my state. It is best for you if you validate my layman’s opinions here according to your specific jurisdiction and applicable state laws.
What is Burden of Proof and Its Three Primary Standards?
In Latin, “onus probandi” means the Burden of Proof. In essence, the Burden of Proof is the minimum level of proof needed to win a court case. It is the obligation to provide sufficient evidence for claims one makes in court. So, it is crucial to not only know generally what Burden of Proof means but to know the different standards of proof in different circumstances and for you and your attorney to be able to successfully show proper Burden of Proof in court.
In any court case, there are at least three primary standards of proof:
By Ben Findley
