Gale Encyclopedia of American Law Volume 2 P42 fully illuminates today's leading cases, major statutes, legal terms and concepts, notable persons involved with the law, important documents and more. Legal issues are fully discussed in easy-to-understand language, including such high-profile topics as the Americans with Disabilities Act, capital punishment, domestic violence, gay and lesbian rights, physician-assisted suicide and thousands more. | 398 CITATION particular fact sought to be proved. The party offering circumstantial evidence argues that this series of facts by reason and experience is so closely associated with the fact to be proved that the fact to be proved may be inferred simply from the existence of the circumstantial evidence. The following examples illustrate the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence If John testifies that he saw Tom raise a gun and fire it at Ann and that Ann then fell to the ground John s testimony is direct evidence that Tom shot Ann. If the jury believes John s testimony then it must conclude that Tom did in fact shoot Ann. If however John testifies that he saw Tom and Ann go into another room and that he heard Tom say to Ann that he was going to shoot her heard a shot and saw Tom leave the room with a smoking gun then John s testimony is circumstantial evidence from which it can be inferred that Tom shot Ann. The jury must determine whether John s testimony is credible. Circumstantial evidence is most often employed in criminal trials. Many circumstances can create inferences about an accused s guilt in a criminal matter including the accused s resistance to arrest the presence of a motive or opportunity to commit the crime the accused s presence at the time and place of the crime any denials evasions or contradictions on the part of the accused and the general conduct of the accused. In addition much SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE is circumstantial because it requires a jury to make a connection between the circumstance and the fact in issue. For example with fingerprint evidence a jury must make a connection between this evidence that the accused handled some object tied to the crime and the commission of the crime itself. Books movies and television often perpetuate the belief that circumstantial evidence may not be used to convict a criminal of a crime. But this view is incorrect. In many cases circumstantial evidence is the only evidence linking an accused
