Law and Evidence Glossary Terms

Evidence and Chain of Custody

• Evidence refers to testimony or items entered into a court to prove an issue or support an action.
• Chain of Custody is the accounting of the whereabouts of a piece of physical evidence from its seizure until its introduction into court as evidence, to prove that the item presented is the same as the item seized.

Best Evidence Rule

• The Best Evidence Rule states that the original of a piece of documentary evidence must be entered as evidence, instead of a copy, unless it can be shown that the original was lost or destroyed through no fault of the party offering it.
• This rule is designed to prevent changes to the testimonial evidence contained in the document which could not be detected.

Hearsay and Hearsay Rule

• Hearsay refers to testimonial or written evidence of an out-of-court statement entered as evidence for the purpose of proving the content of the statement.
• The Hearsay Rule states that hearsay is generally inadmissible because it depends on the credibility of a person other than the witness.
• Hearsay may be used in every step of the information gathering process, and may be used as part of the probable cause needed to arrest or search, but may not be used in trial unless it falls under one of the exceptions to the Hearsay Rule, or unless the original source of the information testifies.
• Any time a police officer is acting as a witness to prove the content of the report, it is hearsay, whether it falls under an exception to the Hearsay Rule or not.

Eyewitness Identification

• The relative suggestiveness of the method used (and whether it was appropriate to the circumstances) and how suggestively that identification method was employed, is a key factor in eyewitness identification.
• There are three types of identification methods:
  • Lineups: when the suspect or defendant is in physical custody.
  • Photo Spreads: when the suspect is known, but is not in custody.
  • One-on-one confrontations: when the suspect is detained.
• Two specific requirements for one-on-one confrontations are:
  • Make the one-on-one confrontation no more than a few minutes after the commission of the crime.
  • Allow no coaching of the witness.

Exclusionary Rule

• The Exclusionary Rule is a rule of evidence which states that any evidence which is obtained by illegal means must be excluded from the trial.
• It is the remedy for the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights.
• There are a few exceptions to this rule, including:
  • Good faith
  • Independent source
  • Inevitable discovery
  • Impeachment exceptions.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine

• The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine states that evidence which is derived from evidence which was obtained by an illegal search or interrogation must generally be excluded from use in a trial.
• The original piece of evidence will be excluded by the Exclusionary Rule; the evidence found as a result of the original evidence is excluded by Fruit of the Poisonous Tree.
• The Exclusionary Rule and Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine are intended to remedy Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment violations by punishing police officers who ignore their provisions.