The law of evidence governs the use of testimony (e. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive "Testify" redirects here For other uses see Testify (disambiguation and Testimony (disambiguation. Documentary evidence is any evidence introduced at a trial in the form of Documents. Physical evidence is any evidence introduced in a trialin the form of a physical object intended to prove a fact in issue based on its demonstrable physical characteristics Digital evidence or electronic evidence is any probative information stored or transmitted in Digital form that a party to a Court case may use at Exculpatory evidence is the evidence favorable to the Defendant in a criminal trial, which clears or tends to clear the defendant of Guilt. This article is about the legal concept For scientific evidence in pure science see Scientific evidence. Demonstrative evidence is evidence in the form of a Representation of an object Real evidence is a type of Physical evidence and consists of objects that were involved in a case or actually played a part in the incident or transaction in question Eyewitness identification evidence is the leading cause of Wrongful conviction in the United States Lies, on their own are not sufficient evidence of a crime However Lies may indicate that the defendant knows he is guilty and the prosecution may rely on the fact that the Relevance, in the Common law of evidence, is the tendency of a given item of evidence to prove or disprove one of the legal elements of the case or to have Probative Burden of proof (onus probandi is the obligation to prove Allegations which are presented in a Legal action. In Law, a foundation is sufficient preliminary evidence of the authenticity and relevance for the admission of material evidence in A subsequent remedial measure is a term used in the Law of evidence in the United States to describe an improvement or repair taken following an injury Character evidence is a term used in the Law of evidence to describe any testimony or document submitted for the purpose of proving that a person acted in a particular Habit evidence is a term used in the Law of evidence in the United States to describe any evidence submitted for the purpose of proving that a person In the law of Evidence, similar fact evidence (or the similar fact principle) establishes the conditions under which factual evidence of past misconduct of accused Authentication, in the Law of evidence, is the process by which Documentary evidence and other Physical evidence is proven to be genuine and Chain of custody refers to the chronological documentation and/or Paper trail, showing the seizure custody control transfer analysis and disposition of Evidence Judicial Notice is a rule in the Law of evidence that allows a fact to be introduced into evidence if the truth of that fact is so notorious or well known that it The best evidence rule is a Common law rule of evidence which can be traced back at least as far as the 18th century A self-authenticating document, under the Law of evidence in the United States, is any Document that can be admitted into evidence at a trial An ancient document, in the Law of evidence, refers to both a means of authentication for a piece of Documentary evidence, and an exception to the A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about a Crime or dramatic event through their Senses (e In American law competence concerns the mental capacity of an individual to participate in legal proceedings Under Common law, privilege is a term describing a number of rules excluding evidence that would be adverse to a fundamental principle or relationship if it were disclosed The Direct Examination is a crucial part of the case Direct examination (also called examination in chief is the questioning of a witness by the party who called him or her in a See Structure of policy debate for cross-examination in Policy debate. Witness impeachment, in the Law of evidence, is the process of calling into question the credibility of an individual who is testifying in a trial. A recorded recollection, in the Law of evidence, is an exception to the Hearsay rule which allows a witness to testify to the accuracy of a recording or An expert witness is a Witness, who by virtue of Education, Training, Skill, or Experience, is believed to have Knowledge A dead man statute is a statute designed to prevent Perjury in a Civil case by prohibiting a witness who is an interested party from testifying about communications History of the rule The rules of hearsay began to form properly in the late seventeenth century and had become fully established by the early nineteenth century Hearsay is the legal term that describes statements made outside of court or other judicial proceedings In the law of criminal evidence a confession means a statement by a suspect in crime which is adverse to that person The business records exception to the US hearsay rule is based on Rule 803(6 of the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE An excited utterance, in the Law of evidence, is a statement made by a person in response to a startling or shocking event or condition In the Law of evidence, the dying declaration is Testimony that would normally be barred as Hearsay but may nonetheless be admitted as evidence Background The party admission, in the Law of evidence, is a type of statement that appears to be hearsay (an out of court statement but is An ancient document, in the Law of evidence, refers to both a means of authentication for a piece of Documentary evidence, and an exception to the Declarations against interest are an exception to the rule on hearsay in which a person's statement may be used where generally the content of the statement is so prejudicial A present sense impression, in the Law of evidence, is a statement made by a person (the Declarant) that conveys his or her sense of the state of an This article is for the legal term 'Res Gestae' For the article on the record of the accomplishments of the first Roman emperor Augustus see the article for Res Gestae Divi A learned treatise, in the Law of evidence, is a text that is sufficiently authoritiative in its field to be admissible as evidence in a Court in support In the law of evidence, an implied assertion is a statement or conduct that infers some fact A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law Tort law is the name given to a body of law that creates and provides remedies for civil wrongs that do not arise out of Contractual duties Property law is the area of Law that governs the various forms of Ownership in Real property (land as distinct from personal or movable possessions In Common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the Testator) regulates the rights of others over his or her Property The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of Law which governs the management of personal affairs and the Disposition of Property of The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society "Testify" redirects here For other uses see Testify (disambiguation and Testimony (disambiguation. g. , oral or written statements, such as an affidavit) and exhibits (e. An affidavit is a formal sworn statement of fact, signed by the declarant (who is called the affiant or deponent) and witnessed (as to the veracity of the An exhibit, in a criminal Prosecution or a Civil trial, is physical or Documentary evidence brought before the Jury g. , physical objects) or other documentary material which is admissible (i. e. , allowed to be considered by the trier of fact, such as jury) in a judicial or administrative proceeding (e. A trier of fact (or finder of fact) is a person who determines facts in a legal proceeding A jury a sworn body of persons convened to render a rational, impartial Verdict (a finding of fact on a question officially submitted to them Dispute resolution is the process of resolving disputes between parties. g. , a court of law). A court is a forum used by a power base to adjudicate disputes and dispense civil, labour administrative and criminal Justice under its
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Relevance and social policy
Legal scholars of the Anglo-American tradition, but not only that tradition, have long regarded evidence as being of central importance to the law.
In every jurisdiction based on the English common law tradition, evidence must conform to a number of rules and restrictions to be admissible. Evidence must be relevant — that is, it must have a tendency to make a fact at issue in the proceeding be more or less probable than it would be without the evidence. Relevance, in the Common law of evidence, is the tendency of a given item of evidence to prove or disprove one of the legal elements of the case or to have Probative
However, the relevance of evidence is ordinarily a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition for the admissibility of evidence. For example, relevant evidence may be excluded if it is unfairly prejudicial, confusing, or cumulative. Furthermore, a variety of social policies operate to exclude relevant evidence. Thus, there are limitations on the use of evidence of liability insurance, subsequent remedial measures, settlement offers, and plea negotiations, mainly because it is thought that the use of such evidence discourages parties from carrying insurance, fixing hazardous conditions, offering to settle, and pleading guilty to crimes, respectively. Liability insurance is a part of the general Insurance system of Risk financing A subsequent remedial measure is a term used in the Law of evidence in the United States to describe an improvement or repair taken following an injury A settlement offer or offer to settle is a term used in a civil lawsuit to describe a communication from one party to the other suggesting a settlement A plea bargain (also plea agreement, plea deal or copping a plea) is an agreement in a Criminal case whereby the Prosecutor offers
The question of how the relevance or irrelevance of evidence is to be determined has been the subject of a vast amount of discussion in the last 100-200 years. There is now a consensus among legal scholars and judges in the U. S. that the relevance or irrelevance of evidence cannot be determined by syllogistic reasoning -- if-then logic -- alone. There is also general agreement that assessment of relevance or irrelevance involves or requires judgments about probabilities or uncertainties. Beyond that, there is little agreement. Many legal scholars and judges agree that ordinary reasoning, or common sense reasoning, plays an important role. There is less agreement about whether or not judgments of relevance or irrelevance are defensible only if the reasoning that supports such judgments is made fully explicit. However, most trial judges would reject any such requirement and would say that some judgments can and must rest in part on unarticulated and unarticulable hunches and intuitions. However, there is general (though implicit) agreement that the relevance of at least some types of expert evidence -- particularly evidence from the hard sciences -- requires particularly rigorous, or in any event more arcane reasoning than is usually needed or expected. There is a general agreement that judgments of relevance are largely within the discretion of the trial court -- although relevance rulings that lead to the exclusion of evidence are more likely to be reversed on appeal than are relevance rulings that lead to the admission of evidence.
Under the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) Rule 401: "Relevant evidence" means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. The Federal Rules of Evidence ( FRE) govern the admission of facts by which parties in the federal courts of the United States may prove their cases
Federal Rule 403 allows relevant evidence to be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by danger of unfair prejudice, confusing or misleading the jury or waste of the court's time. Probative is a term used in law to signify "tending to prove California Evidence Code §352 also allows for exclusion to avoid "substantial danger of undue prejudice. "
Presence or absence of a jury
The United States of America has a very complicated system of evidentiary rules; for example, John Wigmore's celebrated treatise on it filled ten volumes. [1] James Bradley Thayer reported in 1898 that even English lawyers were surprised by the complexity of American evidence law, such as its reliance on exceptions to preserve evidentiary objections for appeal. James Bradley Thayer ( January 15, 1831 – February 14, 1902) American legal writer and educationist [2]
Some legal experts, notably Stanford legal historian Lawrence Friedman, have argued that the complexity of American evidence law arises from two factors: (1) the right of American defendants to have findings of fact made by a jury in practically all criminal cases as well as many civil cases; and (2) the widespread consensus that tight limitations on the admissibility of evidence are necessary to prevent a jury of untrained laypersons from being swayed by irrelevant distractions. [3] In Professor Friedman's words: "A trained judge would not need all these rules; and indeed, the law of evidence in systems that lack a jury is short, sweet, and clear. "[4]
However, some respected observers disagree with the commonplace thesis that the institution of trial by jury is the main reason for the existence of rules of evidence even in countries such as the United States and Australia; they argue that other variables are at work. [5]
Exclusion of evidence
Unfairness
Under English and Welsh law, evidence that would otherwise be admissible at trial may be excluded at the discretion of the trial judge if it would be unfair to the defendant to admit it. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland
Evidence of a confession may be excluded because it was obtained by oppression or because the confession was made in consequence of anything said or done to the defendant that would be likely to make the confession unreliable. In these circumstances, it would be open to the trial judge to exclude the evidence of the confession under Section 79 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), or under Section 73 PACE, or under common law, although in practice the confession would be excluded under section 76 PACE. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ( PACE) (1984 c 60 is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in [6]
Other admissible evidence may be excluded, at the discretion of the trial judge under 78 PACE, or at common law, if the judge can be persuaded that having regard to all the circumstances including how the evidence was obtained “admission of the evidence would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings that the court ought not to admit it. " [7]
Authentication
Certain kinds of evidence, such as documentary evidence, are subject to the requirement that the offeror provide the trial judge with a certain amount of evidence (which need not be much and it need not be very strong) suggesting that the offered item of tangible evidence (e. g. , a document, a gun) is what the offeror claims it is. The authentication requirement has bite primarily in jury trials. If evidence of authenticity is lacking in a bench trial, the trial judge will simply dismiss the evidence as unpersuasive or irrelevant.
Witnesses
In systems of proof based on the English common law tradition, almost all evidence must be sponsored by a witness, who has sworn or solemnly affirmed to tell the truth. A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about a Crime or dramatic event through their Senses (e The bulk of the law of evidence regulates the types of evidence that may be sought from witnesses and the manner in which the interrogation of witnesses is conducted during direct examination and cross-examination of witnesses. The Direct Examination is a crucial part of the case Direct examination (also called examination in chief is the questioning of a witness by the party who called him or her in a See Structure of policy debate for cross-examination in Policy debate. Other types of evidentiary rules specify the standards of persuasion (e. g. , proof beyond a reasonable doubt) that a trier of fact such as a jury must apply when it assesses evidence.
Today all persons are presumed to be qualified to serve as witnesses in trials and other legal proceedings, and all persons are also presumed to have a legal obligation to serve as witnesses if their testimony is sought. However, legal rules sometimes exempt people from the obligation to give evidence and legal rules disqualify people from serving as witnesses under some circumstances.
Privilege rules give the holder of the privilege a right to prevent a witness from giving testimony. Under Common law, privilege is a term describing a number of rules excluding evidence that would be adverse to a fundamental principle or relationship if it were disclosed These privileges are ordinarily (but not always) designed to protect socially valued types of confidential communications. Some of the privileges that are often recognized are the marital secrets privilege, the adverse spousal testimony privilege, the attorney-client privilege, the doctor-patient privilege, the psychotherapist-patient and counselor-patient privilege, the state secrets privilege and the clergy-penitent privilege. The spousal privilege, in the United States of America comprises two separate privileges the marital confidences privilege and the spousal testimonial privilege. The spousal privilege, in the United States of America comprises two separate privileges the marital confidences privilege and the spousal testimonial privilege. Attorney-client privilege is a legal concept that protects communications between a client and his or her Attorney and keeps those communications confidential In the laws of many Common law jurisdictions the concept of legal Privilege, or the rule that certain conversations are so private and confidential that they cannot be used The State Secrets Privilege is an evidentiary rule created by United States legal Precedent. The priest penitent privilege, also known as the clergy privilege, is an application of the principle of Privileged communication that protects the contents of communications A variety of additional privileges are recognized in different jurisdictions, but the list of recognized privileges varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; for example, some jurisdictions recognize a social worker-client privilege and other jurisdictions do not.
Witness competence rules are legal rules that specify circumstances under which persons are ineligible to serve as witnesses. In American law competence concerns the mental capacity of an individual to participate in legal proceedings For example, neither a judge nor a juror is competent to testify in a trial in which they are serving in that capacity; and in jurisdictions with a dead man statute, a person is deemed not competent to testify as to statements of or transactions with a deceased opposing party. A dead man statute is a statute designed to prevent Perjury in a Civil case by prohibiting a witness who is an interested party from testifying about communications
Hearsay
Hearsay is one of the largest and most complex areas of the law of evidence in common-law jurisdictions. Not to be confused with Heresy. Hearsay is a legal term referring to the use of out of court statements as evidence Not to be confused with Heresy. Hearsay is a legal term referring to the use of out of court statements as evidence The default rule is that hearsay evidence is inadmissible. Hearsay is an out of court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. A party is offering a statement to prove the truth of the matter asserted if the party is trying to prove that the assertion made by the declarant (the maker of the pretrial statement) is true. For example, prior to trial Bob says, "Jane went to the store. " If the party offering this statement as evidence at trial is trying to prove that Jane actually went to the store, the statement is being offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. However, at both common law and under evidence codifications such as the Federal Rules of Evidence, there are dozens of exemptions from and exceptions to the hearsay rule. The Federal Rules of Evidence ( FRE) govern the admission of facts by which parties in the federal courts of the United States may prove their cases
Circumstantial evidence
Evidence of an indirect nature which implies the existence of the main fact in question but does not in itself prove it. Generally a fact is defined as something that is true something that actually exists or something that can be verified according to an established standard of evaluation That is, the existence of the main fact is deduced from the indirect or circumstantial evidence by a process of probable reasoning. Reason involves the ability to think understand and draw Conclusions in an Abstract way as in Human thinking The introduction of a defendant's fingerprints or DNA sample are examples of circumstantial evidence. A fingerprint is an impression of the friction ridges of all or any part of the finger The fact that a defendant had a motive to commit a crime is circumstantial evidence.
Some people believe that all evidence is circumstantial because -- some observers think (and some thoughtful judges agree) -- no evidence ever directly proves a fact.
Evidence that the defendant lied
Lies, on their own, are not sufficient evidence of a crime. Lies, on their own are not sufficient evidence of a crime However Lies may indicate that the defendant knows he is guilty and the prosecution may rely on the fact that the However, lies may indicate that the defendant knows he is guilty, and the prosecution may rely on the fact that the defendant has lied alongside other evidence.
Burdens of proof
Different types of proceedings require parties to meet different burdens of proof, the typical examples being beyond a reasonable doubt, clear and convincing evidence, and preponderance of the evidence. Burden of proof (onus probandi is the obligation to prove Allegations which are presented in a Legal action. Burden of proof (onus probandi is the obligation to prove Allegations which are presented in a Legal action. Many jurisdictions have burden-shifting provisions, which require that if one party produces evidence tending to prove a certain point, the burden shifts to the other party to produce superior evidence tending to disprove it.
One special category of information in this area includes things of which the court may take judicial notice. Judicial Notice is a rule in the Law of evidence that allows a fact to be introduced into evidence if the truth of that fact is so notorious or well known that it This category covers matters that are so well known that the court may deem them proven without the introduction of any evidence. For example, if a defendant is alleged to have illegally transported goods across a state line by driving them from Boston to Los Angeles, the court may take judicial notice of the fact that it is impossible to drive from Boston to Los Angeles without crossing a number of state lines. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West In a civil case, where the court takes judicial notice of the fact, that fact is deemed conclusively proven. In a criminal case, however, the defense may always submit evidence to rebut a point for which judicial notice has been taken.
Evidentiary rules stemming from other areas of law
Some rules that affect the admissibility of evidence are nonetheless considered to belong to other areas of law. These include the exclusionary rule of criminal procedure, which prohibits the admission in a criminal trial of evidence gained by unconstitutional means, and the parol evidence rule of contract law, which prohibits the admission of extrinsic evidence of the contents of a written contract. The exclusionary rule is a legal principle in the United States, under constitutional law, that holds that evidence collected or analyzed in violation of Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated Criminal law. The parol evidence rule is the legal application of a rule of evidence in Contract cases that prevents a party to a written contract from contradicting (or sometimes adding A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law
Evidence as an area of study
In countries that follow the civil law system, evidence is normally studied as a branch of procedural law. Civil law or Romano-Germanic law or Continental law is the predominant system of law in the world. Procedural law comprises the rule by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil or criminal proceedings The rules are designed to ensure
Nevertheless, because of its importance to the practice of law, all American law schools offer a course in evidence, and most require the subject either as a first year class, or as an upper-level class, or as a prerequisite to later courses. A law school (also known as a school of law or college of law) is an institution specializing in Legal education. Furthermore, evidence is heavily tested on the Multistate Bar Examination ("MBE") - of the 200 multiple choice questions asked in that test, approximately one sixth will be in the area of evidence. The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE is a six-hour two-hundred Multiple-choice question Examination administered as a part of the Bar examination in almost For the 1974 John Wayne Crime drama movie see McQ. Multiple choice is a form of Assessment in which respondents The MBE predominantly tests evidence under the Federal Rules of Evidence, giving little attention to matters for which state law is likely to be inconsistent. The Federal Rules of Evidence ( FRE) govern the admission of facts by which parties in the federal courts of the United States may prove their cases
References
- ^ Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3rd ed. (New York: Touchstone, 2005), 300.
- ^ Friedman, 300.
- ^ Friedman, 301.
- ^ Lawrence M. Friedman, American Law in the Twentieth Century (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), 266.
- ^ See, for example, Frederick Schauer, "On the Supposed Jury-Dependence of Evidence Law," vol. 155 University of Pennsylvania Law Review pp. 165-202 (November 2006). See also 1 John Henry Wigmore, Evidence in Trials at Common Law Section 4d. John Henry Wigmore ( 4 March, 1863 &ndash 20 April, 1943) was an American Jurist and expert in the Law of evidence. 1 (P. Tillers. rev. 1983) and P. Tillers, "Rules of Evidence in Nonjury Trials" (Nov. 7 2006) at http://tillerstillers.blogspot.com/search?q=rules+jury
- ^ WikiCrimeLine Confession
- ^ Exclusion of evidence on grounds of unfairness
See also
- Burden of proof
- Expert witness
- Hearsay
- Falsified evidence
- Ultimate issue
- Spectral evidence (testimony about ghosts or apparitions)
- Evidence under Bayes theorem
- Direct Evidence
- Forensic animation
- Adverse inference
External links
Burden of proof (onus probandi is the obligation to prove Allegations which are presented in a Legal action. An expert witness is a Witness, who by virtue of Education, Training, Skill, or Experience, is believed to have Knowledge Not to be confused with Heresy. Hearsay is a legal term referring to the use of out of court statements as evidence Falsified evidence, forged evidence or tainted evidence or misleading by suppressing evidence unfavourable for the police/prosecution, is used to either An ultimate issue in Criminal law is a legal issue at stake in the Prosecution of a Crime for which an Expert witness is providing Spectral evidence was a form of evidence accepted in court during the Salem Witch Trials that was based upon dreams and visions. Among evidence scholars the study of evidence in recent decades has become broadly interdisciplinary incorporating insights from Psychology, Feminism Direct evidence is testimony/other proof which expressly or straight-forwardly proves the existence of a fact Forensic animation is a branch of Forensic science in which Audio-visual recreations of incidents or accidents are created to aid investigators Adverse inference is a legal inference adverse to the concerned party drawn from silence or absence of requested evidence.Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic