Beyond a shadow of a doubt court8/26/2023 ![]() ![]() The final burden of proof is the “beyond a reasonable doubt’ standard. In essence, probable cause is the legal standard required to give law enforcement the permission to arrest someone or search some place. It is also the standard of proof used at a preliminary hearing in court. The probable cause standard is primarily used for 3 events: the arrest of a suspect, the authorization to search a person, place or thing and the return of a grand jury indictment. Unfortunately, neither the code nor jurisprudence provides a definitive definition of what constitutes probable cause, but it is generally considered to be nothing more than a reasonable belief to be that the person has committed a crime or that evidence of a crime will be found at a particular place. The next, and most common standard is probable cause. Now, if during the course of the detention, the officer develops more facts rising to “probable cause”, he may arrest the person. During the frisk, if the officer feels an object that he immediately recognizes is a weapon, he may remove the item. Additionally, if the officer can articulate specific reasons why he thinks the detained person is armed, he may conduct a cursory frisk for weapons. Assuming the police officer has the authority to detain someone, he may only do so for the time necessary to either confirm or dispel his belief that the person is engaged in criminal activity. He must be able to articulate specific facts or reasons to support this belief. This tactic is known as “stop and frisk.” A police officer may temporarily detain someone if they have a reasonable basis to believe the person is committing, has committed or is about to commit a crime. The lowest standard of proof is “reasonable suspicion.” This standard is required whenever an officer who does not have probable cause to arrest someone wants to detain them and possibly conduct a pat-down. This post describes each burden and identifies when they are required during the criminal justice process. These three burdens of proof are: the reasonable doubt standard, probable cause and reasonable suspicion. Louisiana law utilizes 3 different burdens of proof throughout the criminal justice process.
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