witness statement
Deposition from observer
A witness statement is a formal written account of what someone observed or knows about an event, typically prepared for legal proceedings.
Police collect witness statements during investigations; courts require them as evidence.
The statement records facts as the witness perceived them: Her witness statement placed the defendant at the scene.
Unlike testimony given in court, a witness statement is prepared in advance and signed.
- affidavitSworn written statement
- under oathFormally pledged to honesty
- depositionFormal testimony under oath
- court testimonyStatements given in trial
- eyewitnessOne who saw events
documentary evidence · legal document · official record · testimony · evidence · recantation · coercion · exhibit · reliability · corroboration · cross-examination · incident report · intimidation · credibility · recording · recollection · alibi · truth
- true crimetrue crime, cold case, crime docs, unsolved mystery, murder mystery
- evidenceevidence, evidence bag, circumstantial evidence, proof, admissible
- firsthand accountseyewitness report, memoir, diary entry, journal, personal narrative
- investigation termsinvestigation, evidence, testimony, clue, detective
- proofevidence, verification, attestation, corroboration, certification
- court evidenceexhibit, physical evidence, DNA evidence, fingerprints, ballistics
witness statementhearsay
Unverified secondhand information
secondhand account · rumor · hearsay evidence · gossip · indirect evidence
witness statementfalse testimony
Lying while legally sworn
perjury · false statement · fabrication · lie · fabricated evidence