How have the courts interpreted the standard of proof in cases involving sexual assault cases?

but that the prosecution did not need to prove the case to a total certainty, or "100 percent," and the jury need not be "absolutely 100 percent certain." The jury was instructed with CALCRIM No. 220, which basically stated the same thing: "The evidence need not eliminate all possible doubt because everything in life is open to some possible or imaginary doubt." The prosecutor ended his discussion of the beyond a reasonable doubt standard with an explanation that the standard required the jury to find it had "an abiding conviction in the truth of the charges," an "abiding, long-lasting conviction, belief." This was also fully consistent with the portion of the pattern jury instruction provided to the jury which stated: "Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is proof that leaves you with an abiding conviction that the charge is true." (See CALCRIM No. 220.) In sum, the prosecutor's argument did not "convey an impression of a lesser standard of proof than the constitutionally required standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt." (People v. Katzenberger (2009) 178 Cal.App.4th 1260, 1268.)

E. Admission of Evidence [Not Certified for Publication]