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22 Am. J. Crim. L. 677 (1994-1995)
The Reasonable Doubt Jury Instruction: Giving Meaning to a Critical Concept

handle is hein.journals/ajcl22 and id is 685 raw text is: The Reasonable Doubt Jury Instruction: Giving Meaning to a Critical Concept Jessica N. Cohen* Table of Contents I. Introduction .................................... 677 II. The Constitutional Requirement of Proof Beyond a Reasonable D oubt ........................................ 679 III. Division Among the Federal and State Courts ............ 682 A. The Federal Courts ........................... 682 B. The State Jurisdictions ......................... 686 IV. Reasonable Doubt Should Be Defined .................. 688 A. Reasonable Doubt Is a Legal Term in Need of Definition . 688 B. Fairness to Both Sides Mandates Defining Reasonable D oubt ..................................... 692 1. Fairness to the Defendant .................... 692 2. Fairness to the Prosecution ................... 694 V. Reasonable Doubt Can Be Clearly and Simply Defined ...... 696 VI. Conclusion ..................................... 701 I. Introduction As early as 1793, a New Jersey court instructed jurors to follow the humane rule and acquit the defendant if they had reasonable doubts about his guilt.' What did this eighteenth-century judge mean by reason- * Trial Attorney, United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division; B.A. 1985, The American University; J.D. 1988, Georgetown University Law Center. The views expressed herein are those of the author alone and readers should not infer that they represent those of the Department of Justice. 1. State v. Wilson, 1 N.J.L. 502, 506 (1793). At least one commentator has traced the

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