There’s an art and science to persuasion in court, and demonstrative exhibits are one of the best tools in an attorney’s arsenal to display and support facts. There are many types of demonstrative exhibits, such as pictures, illustrations, and graphs, and the goal is to represent, illustrate, and explain. Studies and courtroom experiences have proven that when a juror can see and interact with the evidence visually, comprehension and retention increase dramatically.
What Are Demonstrative Exhibits?
Demonstrative exhibits are anything used during a trial to clarify and highlight facts for the jury. Unlike physical evidence, which is directly involved in the crime or incident, demonstrative exhibits are created to make complex information easier to illustrate.
Some Common Types of Demonstrative Exhibits
- Charts and Graphs: Great for breaking down data and timelines.
- Photographs: Images that provide a visual context
- Models and Diagrams: Physical or digital models visualize spaces and products.
- Animations and Videos: Exhibits that recreate incidents, demonstrate how things work, or highlight key evidence.
Why Demonstrative Exhibits Matter
Trying to explain a complicated sequence of events or a technical process using only words, it’s normal for attorneys to struggle to paint a mental picture for jurors. A good demonstrative exhibit can highlight cause and effect and illustrate distances or scales.
Forensic animations, when used as demonstrative exhibits in court
Unlike other demonstrative exhibits, forensic animations offer a visual reconstruction of a witness’s testimony. Animations are the type of evidence that is often better to use in those situations where things are difficult to explain verbally.
They can, for example:
- Show the exact position and motion of vehicles at the moment of impact.
- Illustrate how a person’s body acts during a slip and fall incident.
- Reveal details that might go unnoticed in photos or diagrams.
The conclusion
You don’t have to limit yourself necessarily to using only real evidence, you can also use demonstrative evidence in the end. Both have their own benefits, especially when using both. When you use real evidence as a way to prove facts and combine that with demonstrative evidence as a way to support the facts, you get excellent outcomes.
