How Cases Move Through Federal Courts
Civil Cases
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Instructions and standard of proof
Following the closing arguments, the judge gives instructions to the jury, explaining the relevant law, how the law applies to the case being tried, and what questions the jury must decide.
How sure do jurors have to be before they reach a verdict? One important instruction the judge gives the jury is the standard of proof they must follow in deciding the case. The courts, through their decisions, and Congress, through statutes, have established standards by which facts must be proven in criminal and civil cases. In civil cases, in order to decide for the plaintiff, the jury must determine by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty and violated the plaintiff’s rights. A preponderance of the evidence means that, based on all the evidence, the evidence favors the plaintiff more (even if only slightly) than it favors the defendant. If the evidence in favor of the plaintiff could be placed on one side of a scale, and that in favor of the defendant on the other, the plaintiff would win if the evidence in favor of the plaintiff was heavy enough to tip the scale. If the two sides were even, or if the scale tipped for the defendant, the defendant would win. |
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