Documentary Versus Physical Evidence
A piece of evidence is not documentary evidence if it is presented for some purpose other than the examination of the contents of the document. For example, if a blood-spattered letter is introduced solely to show that the defendant stabbed the author of the letter from behind as it was being written, then the evidence is physical evidence, not documentary evidence. However, a film of the murder taking place would be documentary evidence (just as a written description of the event from an eyewitness). If the content of that same letter is then introduced to show the motive for the murder, then the evidence would be both physical and documentary.
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Famous quotes containing the words documentary, physical and/or evidence:
“What is a novel if not a conviction of our fellow-men’s existence strong enough to take upon itself a form of imagined life clearer than reality and whose accumulated verisimilitude of selected episodes puts to shame the pride of documentary history?”
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924)
“Patience, that blending of moral courage with physical timidity.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“Never say a humorous thing to a man who does not possess humour. He will always use it in evidence against you.”
—Herbert, Sir Beerbohm (1853–1917)