1. The Nature of Evidence Evidence Management & Intelligence Analysis Richard M Leary

2. Traditional Approach – Legal Rules In law, there is an assumption that evidence is concerned with ‘Court Rooms’ and lawyers. In reality, very little evidence is ever presented in ‘Court Rooms.’ Evidence is usually generated ‘Pre-Trial’ during fact investigation.

3. Are The Rules of Evidence Important? “…the rules of evidence are only one small part of the subject of evidence and proof. The rounded view of evidence..should include the logical, philosophical, psychological, processual as well as other ” Twining, W. Rethinking Evidence 1994, 155.

4. Traditional Approach – Substance Oriented Descriptions of evidence are usually based on the substance of the material – what it is. Very rare to see evidence described in a Substance Blind way – what it can tell you. Evidence is very common and a definitive list is impossible to create. Evidence should be seen in the light of the knowledge it can impart and the uncertainty that can be attached to it.

5. Traditional Approach – Subject Oriented Evidence is also (usually) described on the basis of the domain in which the user operates. Pathology, Medical, Criminal, Computer, Genetic and so on…. But, the same evidence can be used by many persons in many domains. Relevance is the cornerstone…..

6. Attributes of Evidence - Characteristics Relevance Credibility Reliability Weight

7. Attributes of Evidence - Knowledge Any item of evidence can be thought about in terms of ‘Atomistic Attributes.’ ‘Atomistic Attributes’ can be thought about as ancillary evidence or ‘evidence about evidence.’ All evidence can be decomposed to finer detail revealing new evidence as the process proceeds.

8. Standpoint The user of evidence approaches the discovery, recovery, interpretation and use of evidence on the basis of their environmental perspective – They have a standpoint. This is normal not abnormal. Standpoints should be declared.

9. Uncertainty Werner Heisenberg – Principle of Uncertainty. Axioms of probability can be used to enhance our relative perspective on the value and use of evidence. Uncertainty is not a negative phenomenon.

10. Modes of Reasoning Deductive.. That which is necessarily true Inductive.. That which is probably true Abductive..That which is possibly true. There are different intellectual issues as well as practical problems in using each. Combinations of these reasoning styles are very useful.

11. Role of Generalisations In order to determine the value of some explanation it should be borne in mind that there is always missing evidence. As such, we are forced to employ our knowledge and experience of the world at large to assess the Attributes of Evidence.

12. Examples We now switch to new software model – Leary Prototype based on Inference Networks. Decision support system Demo Prototype Discuss