The Burden of Proof in Florida Injury Law
If you’ve been injured and become involved in a lawsuit, you’ll have many questions. It’s only natural. One of the questions I have been asked is whether I think that I can prove the defendant guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt.
That question raises several interesting topics about the burden of proof in civil jury trials. First of all, there is no such requirement anywhere in the legal world that requires a plaintiff or prosecutor to prove the case beyond a shadow of a doubt. That phrase is a fictional creation. The most difficult burden of proof is “beyond a reasonable doubt” and is used only in criminal proceedings. So unless the person who injured you is also charged criminally, that person will not face the “reasonable doubt standard.”
If your Florida injury case reaches trial, regardless of whether it is in Orlando, Jacksonville or Daytona Beach, we will only be required to prove your case by a “preponderance of the evidence.” That is the burden of proof in civil jury trials. We will be successful in proving the case if the jury decides that it is “more probable than not” that your injury was caused by a liable defendant.
The preponderance of evidence standard is the only burden of proof that is widely accepted as being quantifiable. The standard is satisfied if there is a greater than 50 percent chance that the proposition is true.
The last of the three standards for conviction is “clear and convincing evidence.” This standard is a more difficult burden to prove than a “preponderance of the evidence.” It is also much less commonly used – for example in habeas corpus and capital punishment cases.
To prevail, a jury must be convinced that it is substantially more likely than not that the thing is true. See how that’s different than the preponderance of the evidence burden? One is more likely than not while the other is substantially more likely than not. That means it’s substantially more difficult to prove that burden than the preponderance of the evidence burden (and even more difficult to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt).
These are standards for conviction. Other legal standards exist as well such as probable cause, but that deals with search and seizure law and is inapplicable to civil injury trials.
So in summary, if you’ve been injured anywhere in Florida, be it Orange City, Deltona, Port Orange or Ponte Vedra, and you file a civil claim, we’ll have to prove your case by a preponderance of the evidence.
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