Legal Definition and Related Resources of Circumstantial Evidence

Facts from which the existence of the fact in issue may be logically inferred. That evidence by which, through process of inference , it is sought to prove existence of other facts. See People v Wiley, 126 Cal. Rptr. 6, 53 C.A.3d436. A body of facts may be proved of so conclusive a character as to warrant a firm belief of the fact in issue, quite as strong and certain as that on which reasonable men are accustomed to act. legal evidence which is capable of supporting a conviction , it being necessary only that the circumstances proved be of a conclusive nature and tendency, leading on the whole to a satisfactory conclusion and producing a reasonable certainty that the accused and no one else committed the crime . People v Jackson, 340 N.E.2d 673, 35 Ill.App.3d 215.

The proof of certain facts and circumstances in a given case from which the jury may infer other connected facts which uusally and reasonably follow according to the common experience of mankind. 272 111. 179. That which is applied to the principal fact indirectly, or through the medium of other facts, by establishing certain circumstances or minor facts from which the principal fact is gathered by a process of inference. See 3 Benth. Jud. Ev. 2, 5. The process by which a fact not directly known is inferred from known facts or circumstances. 1 Starkie, Ev. 18. The terms “circumstantial” and “presumptive” are often used interchangeably to denote the same kind of evidence, but in strictness this is not correct. Presumptive evidence is a species of circumstantial evidence, though so large a species as to be almost coextensive with its genus. Evidence may be circumstantial without being presumptive, either because it fails to raise a presumption, or because the inference to which it gives rise is stronger than mere presumption. Burrill, Circ. Ev. 76. Circumstantial evidence is of two kinds, namely: certain, or that from which the conclusion in question necessarily follows; and uncertain, or that from which the conclusion does not necessarily follow, but is probable only, and is obtained by process of reasoning. 127 111. 520.

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Circumstantial Evidence in Historical Law

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Translate Circumstantial Evidence from English to Spanish

Translation of Circumstantial Evidence, with examples. More about free online translation into Spanish of Prueba indirecta and other legal terms is available here.

• Prueba indirecta
• Prueba circunstancial
• Legal English Translation

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This definition of Circumstantial Evidence is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

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Meaning of Circumstantial Evidence in Spanish

Description/ translation of circumstantial evidence into Spanish: prueba indiciaria (la que no está basada en testimonios o elementos directos)[1]

Note: for more information on related terms and on the area of law where circumstantial evidence belongs (criminal procedure law), in Spanish, see here.

Notes and References

1. Translation of Circumstantial Evidence published by Antonio Peñaranda

Resources

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Circumstantial evidence in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of circumstantial evidence.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Police Officer
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• circumstantial evidence in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• circumstantial evidence in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

English Legal System: Circumstantial Evidence

In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Circumstantial Evidence : (circumstantial evidence, indirect evidence)

Evidence from which the judge or Jury may infer the existence of a fact in issue but which does not prove the existence of the fact directly. Case law has described circumstantial evidence as evidence that is relevant (and, therefore, admissible) but that has little probative value.

Compare direct evidence.

Meaning of Circumstantial Evidence in the U.S. Legal System

Definition of Circumstantial Evidence published by the National Association for Court Management: proof of a chain of facts and circumstances indicating the existence of a fact. It is evidence which immediately establishes collateral facts from which the main fact may be inferred. Circumstantial evidence is based on inference and not on personal knowledge or observation.