Also known as: clear-and-convincing evidence · clear & convincing evidence
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A standard of proof requiring the party with the burden to establish that a fact is highly probable. This threshold lies between the ordinary civil preponderance standard and the criminal beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard.
Maria Lopez, a victim of wire fraud by Daniel Cruz, seeks to attend the plea hearing. Cruz's counsel moves to exclude her on the ground that she might alter her testimony after hearing other investors. The court finds no evidence that her testimony would change and denies the motion.
Testator Jessica destroys her 2015 will naming her daughter Kenneth after hearing a false rumor that Kenneth would lose her commercial driver's license. The rumor is later disproved by licensing records. Kenneth offers the 2015 will for probate and shows by clear and convincing evidence that the revocation rested on the false belief.
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County official Eloise sues View Food for defamation after an article accused her of ignoring health violations in exchange for favors. Eloise must prove that View Food published the statements with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth. She presents evidence that the publisher relied solely on an unverified tip and failed to check public records.
Jacob and his adult son Jackson die after simultaneous poisoning. Hospital records contain conflicting times of death due to an evacuation. Jacob's daughter Viola petitions for distribution of the estate. The court finds that clear and convincing evidence of Jackson's survival for 120 hours is absent and deems him to have predeceased Jacob.
Settlor Craig Caldwell orally instructs his nephew to hold certain accounts in trust for Craig's children. After Craig's death the nephew claims the funds outright. The children offer testimony from multiple disinterested witnesses detailing the oral instructions and the court finds the trust and its terms established by clear and convincing evidence.
Donor Charlotte Chung executes a deed conveying Blackacre to her niece but the scrivener mistakenly inserts a life estate instead of a fee simple. The niece offers the antecedent agreement and extrinsic evidence showing the donor's intent. The court reforms the deed after finding clear and convincing evidence of both the mistake and the donor's true intention.
Clear and convincing evidence requires the factfinder to conclude that the proposition is highly probable. Preponderance requires only that the proposition is more likely than not.
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The Due Process Clause requires clear and convincing evidence to terminate parental rights and to permit withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from an incompetent patient.
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The defendant must prove insanity by clear and convincing evidence. This allocation satisfies due process because the government has already proved the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
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No. Federal victim-rights rules permit exclusion of a victim only upon a finding, supported by clear and convincing evidence, that the victim's testimony would be materially altered by hearing other testimony.
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The presumption is rebutted only if allowing the revocation to stand would be more consistent with the testator's probable intention than reviving the earlier will.
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…After reviewing the record, the Court of Appeals endorsed the District Court's conclusion that petitioner had failed to show by clear and convincing evidence that respondent had acted with "actual malice" as defined by New York Times . There was no evidence that the managing editor of American Opinion knew of the falsity of the accusations made…