US-CA11 · jury_instructions
11th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Civil) 3.3
Consideration of Direct and Circumstantial Evidence;
Argument of Counsel; Comments by the Court
As I said before, you must consider only the evidence that I have admitted in
the case. Evidence includes the testimony of witnesses and the exhibits admitted.
But anything the lawyers say is not evidence and isn’t binding on you.
You shouldn’t assume from anything I’ve said that I have any opinion about
any factual issue in this case. Except for my instructions to you on the law, you
should disregard anything I may have said during the trial in arriving at your own
decision about the facts.
Your own recollection and interpretation of the evidence is what matters.
In considering the evidence you may use reasoning and common sense to
make deductions and reach conclusions. You shouldn’t be concerned about
whether the evidence is direct or circumstantial.
“Direct evidence” is the testimony of a person who asserts that he or she has
actual knowledge of a fact, such as an eyewitness.
“Circumstantial evidence” is proof of a chain of facts and circumstances that
tend to prove or disprove a fact. There’s no legal difference in the weight you may
give to either direct or circumstantial evidence.
Provenance
- Source
- ca11.uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-20
- Edition
- civil-2025-09
- Content hash
07aef2e32852022bb542d6d3c2a71bf85362bd3ae7a4cde1571c21bf4b753e2c
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