How have the courts interpreted the beyond reasonable doubt standard in the context of "common sense and experience"?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Estrada, B300257 (Cal. App. 2020):

These statements did not equate the beyond a reasonable doubt standard with everyday decisionmaking. Instead, they were consistent with the court's instruction that "[i]n deciding whether testimony is true and accurate, use your common sense and experience." (CALCRIM No. 226.) "[T]he prism through which witnesses' credibility should be evaluated is common sense and experience." (People v. Campos (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 1228, 1240.) The prosecutor did not tell the jurors "to use their common sense and experience in finding reasonable doubt, which could potentially conflict with the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, but only in assessing a witnesses' credibility." (Ibid.)

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