The legal definition of earwitness is a person who testifies to matters of which they have heard about, but have no firsthand knowledge. Put simply, an earwitness is someone whose knowledge of an event or situation comes from secondhand sources like conversations or media reports, rather than direct personal observation.
In order for an earwitness to be considered credible, what they testify to must be corroborated by other sources. This means that their testimony is only pertinent if someone else can back up what they have heard, whether it be audio or video recordings, documents, or the testimony of other witnesses.
Examples of Earwitness Testimony in Practice
One example of an earwitness situation would be a person testifying in a court of law about events they heard about from other people. In this case, if the earwitness’ testimony is deemed to be credible, it would be used to strengthen other testimony that is already given in court.
Another example could be a person testifying in a corporate investigation. An earwitness in this case would be able to provide information that may have been missed by other parties, and could potentially add value to the investigation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important to understand the legal definition of earwitness. An earwitness is someone who testifies to matters that have been heard from secondhand sources, and their credibility depends upon the corroboration of other sources. Examples of when an earwitness may be used in practice are in a court of law and a corporate investigation.