Evidence

Home

The Incident

The Cast

The Natural History of a Lawsuit

Legalities

• Duties
  
  Evidence
  Credibility of Witnesses
  Direct and Circumstantial Evidence
  Evaluation of Deposition Evidence
  Expert Testimony
  Impeachment
  Textbooks and Articles
  Failure to Produce Evidence- Inference
  
  Trial Instructions

[Note: Selection of the proper form and its use and modification to suit individual facts and circumstances requires careful review of all the language by the user.]

CIVJIG 12.10 Direct and Circumstantial Evidence

Direct and circumstantial evidence

A fact can be proved in one of two ways:

1. A fact is proved by direct evidence when that fact is proved directly without any inferences.

2. A fact is proved by circumstantial evidence when that fact can be inferred from other facts proved in the case.

For example, the fact that "a person walked in the snow" could be proved:

1. By an eyewitness who testified directly that he or she saw a person walking in the snow.

2. By circumstantial evidence of shoe-prints in the snow, from which it can be indirectly inferred that a person had walked in the snow.

Using direct and circumstantial evidence

You should consider both kinds of evidence. The law makes no distinction between the weight given to either direct or circumstantial evidence.

It is up to you to decide how much weight to give any kind of evidence.