Question

Imagine an investigation that turns on whether Mr. White visited Mr. Green one Saturday afternoon. Mr. Green is accusing Mr. White of coming to his house and assaulting him. Here is the evidence: Evidence A A witness Mrs. Short, who lives in the flat below Mr. Green, says that she saw a man who could have been Mr. White (he looked similar) arriving by car at the house on that Saturday. Later, when she went out to the shop, she noticed the car again, and thought she saw a parking ticket on the windscreen. Evidence B Mr. White says he was nowhere near Mr. Green's house, and produces a second witness - a restaurant owner - who testifies that Mr. White was in his restaurant on the Saturday in question. The restaurant owner claims that Mr. White was there all afternoon and that Mr. White's car - a white Peugeot - was in the restaurant car park the whole time. Mr. White and the restaurant owner are old friends and business partners. Evidence C On the Sunday evening a third witness, Mr. Long, who lives opposite Mr. Green (but doesn't know Mr. Green or Mr. White or the restaurant owner) comes forward and states that he had seen a white Peugeot parked outside Mr. Long's house the previous day. He couldn't be sure of the time. The Sunday papers had printed the story of Mr. White's arrest, with a recent photograph of him getting out of the same car at a friend's wedding. 2.1 How strong is the evidence provided by Mrs. Short? Explain your answer. 2.2 Does Mrs. Short's evidence count as corroboration for Mr. Green's accusation? Explain your answer. 2.3 How reliable is the restaurant owner as a witness? Explain your answer. 2.4 What problems are there with Mr. Long's evidence? 2.5 Identify one example of direct testimony and quote it.

Answer 1

Answer 2.1 Evidence provided by Mrs. Short is weak as neither the car of Mr.White can be identified with this testimony nor does she correctly identify Mr.White by the statement given by her confidently. But one of the important inferences can be made from her statement is that the car has been issued a parking ticket. If the same can be verified from the local police authority and the timestamp mentioned on the ticket can be used as a proof of the accusation made by Mr.Green.

Answer 2.2 No, the evidence provided by Mrs.Short is not in the corroboration for Mr.Green accusation as the evidence provided is too weigh and cannot identify Mr.White as prime accused of the allegations made by the Mr.Green. The car could be of any colour, any make, any type and of any owner. In addition to that, the look similar to Mr.White cannot be taken as the prime evidence without any specific identification traits.

Answer 2.3 The restaurant owner is not a reliable witness as they have a prior history of friendship and business partnership. The witness can be biased due to his previous history with the prime accused in the case. If it had been someone else from the restaurant or neighbour then only the statement could be taken as free from any bias.

Answer 2.4 One of the major problem with Mr.Long evidence is related to the timeframe. Mr.Long cannot remember when he has seen the car of Mr.White previous day. The car might have been of someone else on the whole day as car is a common commodity. However, if the same car had been there at the same timeframe, then only the evidence could be of any use. Another thing to notice here is he doesn't know anyone in the case, which means the person he saw could be totally a stranger coming out of a similar car in the whole day which is not a good argument of a case.

Answer 2.5 The example of direct testimony could be Mr.Long seen someone previous day in the evening coming out or leaving into the white Peugeot car from Mr.Green's neighborhood.

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