Court Procedures / Evidence / Service

Generally, in civil court, the petitioner has the burden of proving that the respondent has committed what s/he is accusing the respondent of and the judge has to believe that there is a greater than 50% chance that it happened – this is a lot less of a burden of proof than in criminal court where the judge must believe that the acts happened “beyond a reasonable doubt.” To try to defend against an accusation, a respondent/defendant may want to consider how s/he might be able to try to get together evidence that show the opposite of what the petitioner is alleging - and remember that generally “evidence” can include the respondents’ testimony or the testimony of others. [ONLY INCLUDE THESE IF RELEVANT - IN THIS CASE, SHE TALKED ABOUT BEING ACCUSED OF CHILD ABUSE: For example, if someone is accused of hitting his/her children on their arms and legs leaving bruises, perhaps there may be people who see the children daily who could be witnesses to the fact that the children don’t have bruises. Or if a person is accused of spanking the children to discipline them, perhaps the defendant may be prepared to testify as to how s/he really disciplines the children in other ways.] I cannot tell you how to defend yourself to the specific things you are being accused of since I cannot give you legal advice but hopefully an attorney can represent you or at least help you prepare yourself for testifying in court on your own.