What standard do appellate courts use when reviewing a trial court's findings of fact?

• A. Harmless error
• B. Reversible error
• C. Clearly erroneous
• D. Rules of criminal procedure

Answer: (C)

The key idea is that appellate review of a trial court’s findings of fact uses the clearly erroneous standard. This means the appellate court defers to the trial court’s factual determinations and won’t reweigh the evidence or re-critiqu e credibility unless the findings are clearly wrong. A finding isn’t overturned just because the appellate judge would view the evidence differently; it’s only reversed if, on the whole record, there is a definite and firm conviction that a mistake occurred. If the record supports the trial court’s conclusion or there’s a plausible basis for it, the finding stands.

Harmless error and reversible error relate to whether errors in the trial warrant reversing the outcome, not to the standard for judging factual findings. Rules of criminal procedure are about the procedures to be followed, not a standard of review.