https://bennettandbennett.com/blog/the-reasonable-alternative-hypothesis-defense Houston Criminal Defense Lawyer Sat, 29 Mar 2025 15:36:55 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.2 https://bennettandbennett.com/blog/the-reasonable-alternative-hypothesis-defense#comment-7601 Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:52:56 +0000 http://blog.bennettandbennett.com/2010/09/the-reasonable-alternative-hypothesis-defense.html#comment-7601 The instruction on how to use circumstantial evidence in California is one of my favorites. Essentially before you reach any inference from circumstantial evidence that points toward guilty, you must be convinced that it is the only reasonable inference from that piece of evidence. It is basically the alternative hypothesis test except that it is not limited to the ultimate issue of guilt, it applies to anything a DA is asking a jury to infer from circumstantial evidence. It is also a big incentive to characterize anything possible as circumstantial rather than direct evidence.

]]>