indirect evidence
Inferential supporting facts
Indirect evidence supports a conclusion through inference rather than direct observation or proof.
A witness who saw the defendant fleeing the scene provides indirect evidence of guilt; one who saw the stabbing provides direct evidence.
Also called circumstantial evidence.
The muddy footprints were indirect evidence that someone had entered through the garden.
- hearsayUnverified secondhand information
- context cluesWords clarifying unfamiliar terms
- pattern recognitionIdentifying regularities in inputs
- connecting dotsJoining separate marks sequentially
- inductive reasoningInferring patterns from cases
educated guess · stratigraphy · paper trail · secondary sources · implication · carbon dating · implied meaning · inference · corroboration · contextual clues · reading between lines · admissibility · testimony · premise · behavioral cues · red flags · hypothesis testing · chain of custody
- evidentialshearsay, inferential, firsthand, secondhand, eyewitness
indirect evidencedirect evidence
Proof requiring no inference
eyewitness testimony · eyewitness account · primary evidence · direct observation · real evidence
indirect evidenceeyewitness testimony
Evidence from direct observers
eyewitness account · firsthand account · direct observation · personal testimony
indirect, evidence, direct, directly, indirectly, direction, directional, director, directory