What is Real Evidence?
To understand the term real evidence, it is important to first cover the topic of evidence and its role in the court. What does evidence mean? Evidence is a legal term that is used to describe any type of proof or material that is submitted to a court to support or oppose a claim. This can be in the form of physical evidence, documentary evidence, witness testimony, or expert testimony.
What is real evidence? In legal terms, the real evidence definition is anything physical that can be used to help prove or disprove a fact in a case. This could be anything from a murder weapon to a victim’s clothing to DNA evidence.
Real evidence is often contrasted with “testimonial” evidence, which is basically anything that can be said in court by witnesses (including the accused). So, for example, a victim’s testimony about what happened would be considered testimonial evidence, while the victim’s blood spattered on the wall would be considered real evidence.
Real evidence is often much more reliable than testimonial evidence because it is harder to dispute or fake. This is why crime scene investigators are so important in legal cases – they can often find real evidence that can be used to help convict a suspect.
However, real evidence is not always available, and even when it is, it may not be enough on its own to convict a suspect. This is why prosecutors will often use both real and testimonial evidence in their cases.
Clothing can be an important part of real evidence
Types of Real Evidence
There are a large variety of types of real evidence. Some of the most common types include:
- Physical objects – Physical objects are probably the most common type of real evidence. These are things like weapons, clothing, or other objects that were involved in the commission of a crime. They can be used to support or disprove a fact in a case.
- Photographs – Photographs are another common type of real evidence. They can be used to show what a scene looked like or to identify people or objects.
- Video recordings – Video recordings are another common type of real evidence. They can be used to show what happened at a crime scene or to identify people or objects.
- Forensic evidence – Forensic evidence is another common type of real evidence. This is evidence that has been collected by forensic scientists and can include things like DNA evidence, fingerprints, or tire tracks. Forensic evidence includes biological evidence, which is a form of real evidence relating to the human body. This may include blood, hair, or other types of DNA evidence.
A knife is one example of a type of real evidence that may be used in a court case.