Art. 1105 Burden of proof; civil proceedings

If someone gets sued and claims they acted in self-defense, they normally have to prove it. This means the person being sued (the defendant) must show it's more likely than not that they were defending themselves when the incident happened. This standard is called "preponderance of the evidence," which just means the evidence has to tip slightly in their favor, more than 50 percent likely to be true.

There's an exception for certain people the law calls "authorized persons," a specific group defined under Louisiana law (R.S. 9:2793.12). If one of these authorized people claims self-defense, the rules flip. Instead of the defendant having to prove they acted in self-defense, the person suing them has to prove the opposite. They must show it's more likely than not that the injury, death, or loss was not the result of a justified use of force or self-defense.

In short, this rule decides who has to prove what when self-defense comes up in a civil case. Normally the defendant carries that burden. But if the defendant qualifies as an authorized person under the specific law mentioned, the person bringing the lawsuit carries the burden instead.