The Evidence is Merely Circumstantial

A program not to be missed ... September 1, 2011
Justice Steve Perren

The concept of specific types of evidence is intriguing. I am always surprised at comments by newscasters, media and the public that “the evidence is merely circumstantial.”

My experience is that is normally the best evidence – subjective victim ID or fingerprint at the scene? Which would you rely on more? Yet, the fingerprint is circumstantial.

I have two anecdotal tales to include in the discussion: (1) The victim who can describe the gun used by the assailant down to the barrel length and the caliber but cannot tell you what the assailant looked like and (2) a case that I tried in which the witness to a theft (from the Bombay) and the police officer who arrested the culprit were both absolutely positive of their ID’s and they were indisputably wrong. The latter included not only the identification of the thief (a minor) but of his mother who came to pick him up from the police.

Steve Perren