TYPES OF EVIDENCE

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Before you start collecting evidence, it is important to know the different types of evidence categories. Without taking these into consideration, you may find that the evidence you’ve spent several weeks and quite a bit of money collecting is useless.

Real Evidence

Real evidence is any evidence that speaks for itself without relying on anything else. In electronic terms, this can be a log produced by an audit function—provided that the log can be shown to be free from contamination.

Testimonial Evidence

Testimonial evidence is any evidence supplied by a witness. This type of evidence is subject to the perceived reliability of the witness, but as long as the witness can be considered reliable, testimonial evidence can be almost as powerful as real evidence. Word processor documents written by a witness may be considered testimonial—as long as the author is willing to state that they wrote it.

Hearsay

Hearsay is any evidence presented by a person who was not a direct witness. Word processor documents written by someone without direct knowledge of the incident is hearsay. Hearsay is generally inadmissible in court and should be avoided.

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