Beyond Reasonable Doubt is California’s highest standard of proof. It applies in criminal cases at the trial level. It traces its history to English Common Law and has been a part of California’s Criminal Law since the enactment of the Penal Code in 1872.
The term ‘Reasonable Doubt’ is defined under PC § 1096 as the “state of the case” that in “the minds of jurors … they cannot say they feel an abiding conviction of the truth of the charge.”
“It is not a mere possible doubt; because everything relating to human affairs is open to some possible or imaginary doubt. It is that state of the case, which, after the entire comparison and consideration of all the evidence, leaves the minds of jurors in that condition that they cannot say they feel an abiding conviction of the truth of the charge.”
“Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is proof that leaves you with an abiding conviction that the charge is true. The evidence needs not eliminate all possible doubt because everything in life is open to some possible or imaginary doubt.”