Legal proof

The establishment of a fact by evidence constitutes legal proof. U.S. Court's have accepted a definition of "legal proof" as the conviction or persuasion of the mind of a judge or jury, by the exhibition of evidence, of the reality of a fact alleged. Ellis v. Wolfe-Shoemaker Motor Co., 227 Mo.App. 508, 55 S.W.2d 309. The establishment of legal proof requires evidence sufficient to create a requisite degree of belief to the affirmative concerning a fact in the mind of the ultimate arbiter of facts relating to the matter (typically a judge or jury is said arbiter).

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There are different standards of legal proof in different jurisdictions and nations. In the United States, criminal defendants are accorded strict protections under the law and may only be found guilty if sufficient proof is presented so that no reasonable person could have any doubt as to guilt or innocence (the "reasonable doubt" standard). The theory of this high standard is that it is better for a guilty man to go free than for an innocent man to be incarcerated or wrongfully punished. The two primary lesser standards of legal proof used in U.S. civil cases include by "clear and convincing evidence" and the lesser standard of by "a preponderance of the evidence". Legal proof includes primarily "evidence" but more broadly relates to anything, including evidence, that is probative or compelling to the arbiter of facts, beyond argument. Proof is the result of evidence -- a lack of legal proof is said to be a consequence of insufficient evidence.

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Contributed by Guy Dobbs, Esq. B.A. Kalamazoo College, J.D. University of Connecticut

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