Uniform Jury Instructions – Criminal
Chapter 14. Uniform Jury Instructions—Criminal
Chapter 50. Evidence and Guides for Its Consideration
Part E. Presumptions or Inferences

14-5060. Presumption of innocence; reasonable doubt; burden of proof.1

The law presumes the defendant to be innocent unless and until you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of his guilt.

The burden is always on the state to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. It is not required that the state prove guilt beyond all possible doubt. The test is one of reasonable doubt. A reasonable doubt is a doubt based upon reason and common sense — the kind of doubt that would make a reasonable person hesitate to act in the graver and more important affairs of life.

1.This instruction must be given in all cases.

 

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