Circumstantial evidence in legal proceedings

Circumstantial evidence, otherwise known as indirect evidence is one that has a series of events and interpretations must be applied as the events are linked to each other before finally connecting the suspect to the actual crime or crime scene (The Free Dictionary, 2011). The series of facts will have to be closely tied to the fact being sought before the evidence is accepted.

One of the cases where circumstantial evidence was used to acquire a conviction was in the famous California vs. Orenthal James Simpson in 1995 where Nicole Brown was murdered with her friend Ronald Goldman and the evidence pointed towards Simpson.

The above was after the circumstantial evidence like lack of his cooperation at time of arrest, his left glove found in his house marching the right hand glove found at the crime scene, the change in the hairstyle and footwear size that marches the size of Simpson plus the blood spots found on both the suspect and the crime scene were recorded (Crain Communications Inc., 2003).

The evidence collected at the crime scene and on the suspect would be of great significance if presented before the jury or in the processing of the case. Bearing that the bodies were found and the crime scene had not been interfered with. The evidence found at the scene could be used to link the suspect to the crime using the circumstantial evidences found there.

The evidence that was found at the scene however would need further laboratory analysis to be able to move it from mere circumstantial to direct evidence that is admissible by law and can secure a prosecution.

The first would be a class characteristic that would be used to analyze the glove as belonging to the same class after evaluating the characteristics they have. The size of the footprint f found at the scene of crime as being the same size as that of the suspect.

Then we would move to the individual characteristics of the evidence collected like the subjecting of the blood samples collected from both the scene and the suspect belongings to a DNA sampling to verify if the blood found on both locations has specific common characteristics. Testing the fiber of the gloves to ascertain that they belong to a pair and same manufacturer and not merely identical, (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Lab., 2010).

On the accurate collection of the evidence and their storage will require a specialized team from the forensic department so as to ensure the evidence does not lose its credibility.