Ⅴ. Spot Dictation

The Burden of Proof

The Anglo-American system of law is shaped by an ____1____ process of proof as well as an ____2____ system of decision-making. The key to an accusatorial process of proof is that the party making the accusation of wrongdoing bears the ____3____ of proving that the accusation is true. The charging instrument—in the criminal case, the complaint, ____4____ —is viewed as no more than a statement of the belief of the accuser. It alleges that certain facts exist. But these allegations establish nothing in themselves and no assumption is made as to their accuracy. ____5____ ,simply because the accuser represents the state, that his allegations are true. The ____6____ ,as the accuser, must persuade the jurors, by reference only to evidence produced before them, that the allegations in the charging instrument are accurate. This burden of persuading the jury is described as the“ ____7____ ”.

Placement of the burden of proof on the prosecution means that thedefendant need not establish his innocence; it is the prosecutor that must establish his guilt. The defendant can simply sit back, produce no evidence whatsoever, and be assured of his ____8____ if the prosecutor has not produced sufficient evidence to ____9____ .Moreover, the prosecutor's evidence must be so convincing as to meet another basic standard of the criminal justice process—that the proof establishes guilt ____10____ .That standard makes the state's burden of proof a particular heavy one.