US-CA6 · jury_instructions
6th Cir. Pattern Crim. Jury Instr. 1.06
DIRECT AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
Now, some of you may have heard the terms "direct evidence" and "circumstantial evidence."
Direct evidence is simply evidence like the testimony of an eyewitness which, if you believe it, directly proves a fact. If a witness testified that he saw it raining outside, and you believed him, that would be direct evidence that it was raining.
Circumstantial evidence is simply a chain of circumstances that indirectly proves a fact. If someone walked into the courtroom wearing a raincoat covered with drops of water and carrying a wet umbrella, that would be circumstantial evidence from which you could conclude that it was raining.
It is your job to decide how much weight to give the direct and circumstantial evidence. The law makes no distinction between the weight that you should give to either one, or say that one is any better evidence than the other. You should consider all the evidence, both direct and circumstantial, and give it whatever weight you believe it deserves.
Provenance
- Source
- ca6.uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-19
- Edition
- 2026-08-19
- Content hash
edd3bf66f630c0f7b32c0843916e28829dbfc12c9e82e8faba78e8f81a902bf4
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