Terrill (2009): The Admissible Evidence in a Legal Proceeding (Essay Sample)

Admissible Evidence
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Institution
Admissible Evidence
Terrill (2009) defines evidence, as used in a legal proceeding, as any matter of fact that is subject to a court process, and which is intended to either prove or disprove an issue in a lawsuit. Evidence can also refer to a system used to determine the various facts that may be accepted as proof in a legal process and the extent to which the jury or the judge may rely on those facts in a case (Terrill, 2009). Admissible evidence, on the other hand, refers only to the facts that a jury or a judge can accept in a court of law to form the basis for disproving or proving the main issue of contention in court (Terrill, 2009). Therefore, this implies that not all evidence submitted to a court in a legal process can be accepted by the jury or the judge for purposes of making the final determination on the matter at hand. Thus, for evidence to be admissible, it must meet a certain threshold regarding its reliability and relevance to the case. This paper reviews and analyzes different forms of evidence and the circumstances through which such pieces of evidence can be admissible in courts.
The most widely used form of evidence is witness testimonies (Terrill, 2009). Testimony can be admissible in a court of law only if proper procedures are followed to ensure that the evidence provided meets the required legal threshold (Terrill, 2009). This type of proof can come from both lay individuals and experts in specified matters related to the court case. Regarding hand-written letters that are part of testimony from a lay witnesses, the evidence can be admissible in court if it is authenticated through proof that the handwriting is genuine based on the witness’ familiarity with the with it (Terrill, 2009). Therefore, the witness must swear in court that they are familiar with the evidence in court. Most importantly, the testimony of a lay witness must stick to the facts of the case without including any inferences or opinions, unless the assumptions and opinions are intended to clarify the testimony of the witness or if such opinions are solely based on the witness’ perceptions of the evidence (Terrill, 2009).
The other common type of evidence used in courts is photographs or images related to the case in court. The photographs can only be admitted as evidence if a witness proves to have personal knowledge of the photos at hand (Terrill, 2009). Therefore, the witness must be familiar with the pictures fr...