: the duty of proving a disputed assertion or charge
Examples of burden of proof in a Sentence
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The government must meet a high burden of proof even for the charge of immigration or naturalization fraud to stand.—Dan Gooding
gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 June 2025 Before Combs’ defense team put on a 25-minute defense, with no witnesses called to the stand, Combs’ attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, submitted a motion for a mistrial, claiming the government failed to meet its burden of proof across all five charges.—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2025 Legal experts say Subramanian should instruct jurors not to give less weight to the defense for putting on no witnesses because the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt still falls on the prosecution.—Erik Ortiz, NBC news, 24 June 2025 White individuals and straight people do not need to meet a higher burden of proof than members of minority groups to prevail in employment discrimination suits, the Supreme Court held last week.—Noah Feldman, Mercury News, 12 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for burden of proof
: the responsibility of producing sufficient evidence in support of a fact or issue and favorably persuading the trier of fact (as a judge or jury) regarding that fact or issue
the burden of proof is sometimes upon the defendant to show his incompetency—W. R. LaFave and A. W. Scott, Jr.
Note:
The legal concept of the burden of proof encompasses both the burdens of production and persuasion. Burden of proof is often used to refer to one or the other. Burden of proof and burden of persuasion are also sometimes used to refer to the standard of proof.
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