According to Whitman, “The reasonable doubt formula was originally concerned with protecting the souls of the jurors against damnation.” 2 Whitman further explains, “Convicting an innocent defendant was regarded, in the older Christian tradition, as a potential mortal sin. The reason: jurors were fearful that if they found an innocent person guilty, they would be severely punished in the afterlife. Whitman, has written that its original purpose was to make conviction easier.
Although the standard now serves to make conviction difficult or at least to increase the accuracy of a determination of guilt, one scholar, Yale Law Professor James Q. The reasonable doubt standard, originally and now, serves to minimize the chances that an innocent person will be convicted, but the reason for striving to avoid that outcome has been the subject of dispute. Origin, Purpose, and Development of the Reasonable Doubt Standard Why is this so? What can trial and appellate judges do about it? I start by recalling how the standard developed and what its use is expected to accomplish before considering how the standard functions - and should function - in trial and appellate courts. Trial courts frequently do not make the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt sufficiently clear to juries, and appellate courts sometimes do not sufficiently assure that the standard is being observed. Judge Newman thanks Bolch Judicial Institute Fellow Amelia Thorn and Duke Law student Colleen O’Leary for helpful editorial suggestions. The residency also offers the judge an opportunity to work on the judge’s own writing projects, with the assistance of a student researcher. The recipient visits Duke Law, where he or she may give guest lectures, participate in faculty scholarship workshops, and advise students and faculty. The Institute’s Distinguished Judge in Residence is awarded to an outstanding jurist who has an interest in scholarship, law teaching, and the study of the judiciary. Newman during his tenure as the Bolch Judicial Institute’s inaugural Distinguished Judge in Residence.
Editor’s note: This article was written by Judge Jon O.
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