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E.
Summary
The law defines the relevance of physical evidence. Physical evidence that
does not require an inference to establish a legal fact in the case is direct
evidence; identification evidence is direct evidence. Classified and individu-
alized evidence both require inference to establish their relevance; this is the
definition of circumstantial evidence. We expand on the concept of inference
in Chapter 6, and especially in Chapter 7.
The most critical aspects of any physical evidence analysis are (1) its
physical detection and (2) its recognition as evidence relevant to the case.
Without this starting point, any laboratory examination may be, at best,
impossible, at worst, irrelevant (or maybe it is the other way around). To
find relevant evidence, one must search with purpose; the articulation of
competing hypotheses is a useful tool in the endeavor. Physical evidence left
as a result of a crime event may not be in the same state that it was the
moment the incident occurred. Those who search for evidence must be
familiar with the nature of various types of evidence, and how it may change
and degrade with time and exposure to the elements.
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Recognition of Physical Evidence
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References
 
Commission on Proceedings Involving Guy Paul Morin,
The Honourable Fred Kauf-
man, C.M., Q.C., Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 1998, available at 
 
http://www.
attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/reports.htm
.
Federal Rules of Evidence, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 1999,
available at 
 
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/overview.html
.
Lavie, M., The Associated Press, Tel Aviv, Israel, July 5, 1999, available at 
 
http://abc-
news.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/sheinbein990705.html
.
May, L. S., 
 
Crime’s Nemesis
, Macmillan, New York, 1936.
 
People v. Axell
, 235 Cal.App. 3d 836, 1991.
 
People v. Maclanahan
, San Francisco SCN 16241, California, 1998.
Stoney, D. A., Evaluation of associative evidence: choosing the relevant question,
 
J. Forensic Sci. Soc.
, 24, 472–482, 1984.
Uniform Rules of Evidence, Biddle Law Library, University of Pennsylvania, 1988,
available at 
 
http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/fnact99/ure88.htm
.
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