united-states criminal-law evidence criminal-procedure
US equivalent of &quot;no case to answer&quot; before trial
<p>At least in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, criminal defence can make a <a href="https://www.defence-barrister.co.uk/submission-of-no-case-to-answer/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;no case to answer&quot;</a> application <em>before</em> trial (they can also make one at the close of the prosecution's case during trial, but let's not be distracted by that).</p>
<p>When they make such an application before trial, they basically assert that the prosecution's evidence is <em>not capable</em> of proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt. That means, even if the witnesses testify it and don't get discredited, no reasonable jury would convict anyway.</p>
<p>The judge, when determining such an application, evaluates the would-be-given evidence and decides if it is capable of proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt. If it is, the application gets dismissed and the case proceeds to trial. If it is not, the charges get dismissed.</p>
<p>Is there an equivalent motion in the US? What is it called? How does it work? The closest thing I heard of is &quot;probable cause&quot; but is it a full equivalent of &quot;no case to answer&quot;?</p>

<p>At the federal level, there is no real equivalent to what you're describing.</p>
<p>A probable cause hearing evaluates the government's evidence in a similar way, but it doesn't ask whether a reasonable jury would convict. The closest I can think of is a Rule 29 motion, which <em>does</em> ask that question, but not until trial has already begun. You typically make the motion at the close of the government's case, and (if it was not successful) again at the close of your own, though I've heard tales of judges granting the motion at the end of the government's opening statement.</p>
<p>The states all have their own rules, but they're generally pretty similar to the federal rules in this respect, as I understand it. I don't know of any state that allows the kind of motion you're talking about, in criminal cases, at least. In civil cases, I think everyone has Rule 12(b)(6) motions, which ask the court for a pretrial determination that there's no set of facts that could establish liability on the plaintiff's theory of the case.</p>
