TalkLeft: The Politics Of Crime

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In fact (none / 0) (#3)
by Steve M on Sat Mar 08, 2008 at 11:08:44 PM EST

Failure to prove an allegation beyond a reasonable doubt does not mean it was a false allegation.

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You're right.... (none / 0) (#7)
by jerry on Sat Mar 08, 2008 at 11:53:07 PM EST

I wasn't thinking that all the way through.

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: you only need probable cause (none / 0) (#8)
by Jeralyn on Sun Mar 09, 2008 at 12:31:42 AM EST

to charge, you need reasonable doubt to convict. They declined to charge. Probable cause is the equivalent of a reasonable belief that a crime was committed and it was committed by a specific person.
Since there's no doubt as to identity, there was an issue as to whether there was even a reasonable belief that a rape occurred.
That being said, a prosecutor may and should refuse to bring charges if she or he believes a case cannot be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
I haven't seen that as the reason for not filing in news reports today, although I didn't read every one of them.

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