Circumstantial - Law Dictionary Search Results
Home Dictionary Name: circumstantialCircumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence, presumptive proof when the fact itself is not proved by direct testimony, but is to be inferred from circumstances, which either necessarily or usually attend such facts. It is obvious that a presumption is more or less likely to be true according as it is more or less probable that the circumstances would not have exited unless the fact which is inferred from them had also existed; and that a presumption can only be relied on until the contrary is actually proved. Circumstantial evidence has, in some instances, undoubtedly been found to produce a much stronger assurance of a prisoner's guilt than could have been produced by more direct and positive testimony. As a general principle, however, it is true that positive evidence of a fact from credible eye-witnesses is the most satisfactory that can be produced; and the universal feeling of mankind leans to this species of evidence in preference to that which is merely circumstantial. If positive evidence of a fac...
circumstantial
circumstantial : belonging to, consisting in, or dependent on circumstances cir·cum·stan·tial·ly adv ...
circumstantial evidence
circumstantial evidence see evidence ...
circumstantiable
Capable of being circumstantiated...
Circumstantial
Something incidental to the main subject but of less importance opposed to an essential generally in the plural as the circumstantials of religion...
Circumstantiality
The state characteristic or quality of being circumstantial particularity or minuteness of detail...
impeach
impeach [Anglo-French empecher, from Old French empeechier to hinder, from Late Latin impedicare to fetter, from Latin in- + pedica fetter, from ped- pes foot] 1 : to charge with a crime or misconduct ;specif : to charge (a public official) before a competent tribunal (as the U.S. Senate) with misconduct in office see also Article I and Article II of the Constitution in the back matter NOTE: Impeachment is the first step in removing an officer from office. The president, vice president, and other federal officers (as judges) may be impeached by the House of Representatives. (Members of Congress themselves are not removed by being impeached and tried, but rather are expelled by a two-thirds majority vote in the member's house.) The House draws up articles of impeachment that itemize the charges and their factual bases. The articles of impeachment, once approved by a simple majority of the House members, are then submitted to the Senate, thereby impeaching the officer. The Senate th...
infringement
infringement : the act or an instance of infringing ;esp : the unauthorized use of copyrighted or patented material or of a trademark, trade name, or trade dress see also equivalent, fair use NOTE: Infringement of a trademark, trade name, or trade dress involves use of one by the infringer that is the same as that of the owner or so similar that it is likely to deceive or to cause confusion or mistake on the part of the average purchaser. Infringement of a copyright involves the copying of a material and substantial portion of the protected work. If the alleged infringer denies copying, the copyright holder may be able to prove infringement with circumstantial evidence of the infringer's access to the protected work and of similarities between the two works. ...
res ipsa loquitur
res ipsa loquitur Latin, the thing speaks for itself] : a doctrine or rule of evidence in tort law that permits an inference or presumption that a defendant was negligent in an accident injuring the plaintiff on the basis of circumstantial evidence if the accident was of a kind that does not ordinarily occur in the absence of negligence [a plaintiff who establishes the elements of res ipsa loquitur can withstand a motion for summary judgment and reach the jury without direct proof of negligence "Cox v. May Dept. Store Co., 903 P.2d 1119 (1995)"] NOTE: For res ipsa loquitur to apply, the accident in question must not be due to any voluntary action or contribution by the plaintiff. The doctrine has traditionally required that a defendant have exclusive control over the instrumentality of an injury, but now it is commonly applied when multiple defendants have joint or sometimes successive control (as by the manufacturer and retailer of a defective product). In addition to the control ...
Circumstantially
In respect to circumstances not essentially accidentally...
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