§ 12.1-01-03 — Proof and presumptions

North Dakota § 12.1-01-03

• Jurisdiction: North Dakota
• Title 12.1: Criminal Code
• Ch. 12.1-01: Application - Purposes - Proof - Definitions

Text

1. No person may be convicted of an offense unless each element of the offense is
proved beyond a reasonable doubt. An accused is presumed innocent until proven
guilty. The fact that the accused has been arrested, confined, or charged with the
offense gives rise to no inference of guilt at the accused's trial. "Element of an offense"
means:
a. The forbidden conduct;

b. The attendant circumstances specified in the definition and grading of the
offense;
c. The required culpability;
d. Any required result; and
e. The nonexistence of a defense as to which there is evidence in the case sufficient
to give rise to a reasonable doubt on the issue.
2. Subsection 1 does not require negating a defense:
a. By allegation in the charging document; or
b. By proof, unless the issue is in the case as a result of evidence sufficient to raise
a reasonable doubt on the issue.
Unless it is otherwise provided or the context plainly requires otherwise, if a statute
outside this title defining an offense, or a related statute, or a rule or regulation
thereunder, contains a provision constituting an exception from criminal liability for
conduct which would otherwise be included within the prohibition of the offense, that
the defendant came within such exception is a defense.
3. Subsection 1 does not apply to any defense which is explicitly designated an
"affirmative defense". An affirmative defense must be proved by the defendant by a
preponderance of evidence.
4. When a statute establishes a presumption, it has the following consequences:
a. If there is sufficient evidence of the facts which gave rise to the presumption, the
presumed fact is deemed sufficiently proved to warrant submission of the issue to
a jury unless the court is satisfied that the evidence as a whole clearly negates
the presumed fact.
b. In submitting the issue of the existence of the presumed fact to a jury, the court
shall charge that, although the evidence as a whole must establish the presumed
fact beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury may arrive at that judgment on the basis
of the presumption alone, since the law regards the facts giving rise to the
presumption as strong evidence of the fact presumed.
5. When a statute declares that given facts constitute a prima facie case, proof of such
facts warrants submission of a case to the jury with the usual instructions on burden of
proof and without additional instructions attributing any special probative force to the
facts proved.