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Burden of Proof in Injury Claims

According to the law, the injured party bringing a claim has the burden of proof. This means that it's your job to prove that all of the required legal elements of a claim are met. The burden of proof in criminal proceedings is "beyond a reasonable doubt." However, the burden of proof in civil cases is much less. In Texas, the burden of proof placed upon the injured person bringing the claim is called a preponderance of the evidence. You must tip the scale in your favor and prove that more than 50 percent of the credible evidence supports that the other person was negligent, and that such negligence caused your injuries.

Sometimes we are faced with a "he said, she said" scenario. This can happen when there's an accident but no witnesses. If both sides claim that the other side caused the accident, then the jury is left to decide who is telling the truth. If a jury cannot decide who is at fault and it finds that the evidence is evenly presented, then essentially the result is a tie. In such cases, the injured party loses since they have failed to establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the other party was negligent.

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