Section 23.4 Rebuttable vs. Conclusive Presumptions

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

B. (§23.4) Rebuttable vs. Conclusive Presumptions

Presumptions of law are also often classified as conclusive or rebuttable, a “conclusive presumption” being deemed to be an inference that must be drawn from the proof of given facts that no evidence will be permitted to overthrow. 22A C.J.S. Criminal Law § 695, pp. 332–33 (1989); Rose v. City of Riverside, 827 S.W.2d 737, 738 (Mo. App. W.D. 1992) (everyone is conclusively presumed to know the law and that presumption applies to municipal ordinances).

In criminal cases, conclusive presumptions can violate the Due Process Clause. See Sandstrom v. Mont., 442 U.S. 510, 517, 521–23 (1979) (unconstitutional to prove a defendant’s guilt through the use of a conclusive presumption that...