Question

4. Craft and Structure: The author states: "Recently an acquittal was overturned and a bus driver was sentenced to death for murder based only on circumstantial evidence ." Use context and the definitions of the words circumstance and evidence to explain the meaning of "circumstantial evidence " in this sentence .

Answer 1

Answer:

Circumstantial evidence, in the context of law, means evidence that can only be proven through the support of another fact.

Explanation:

In other words, the evidence cannot stand on its own. In the context of the example, for example, it would be that the bus driver was found guilty of murder since his fingerprints were found in the scene of the crime.

However, his fingerprints alone do not tell us who is the culprit of the murder - it's possible that his fingerprints were there because he and the murder victims were close friends, and thus his fingerprints can be found all over the apartment.

When relying merely on circumstantial evidence (such as one previously exemplified), it is possible that the evidence is misattributed. A piece of stronger evidence would be direct ones, for example, if the murder weapon was found on him, or if there were eyewitness report showing that he was at the scene of the crime when it occurred.