Factual Section
Definition
The portion of a forensic report that records observed data without interpretation: dimensions, photographs, context descriptions, sample inventory, analytical raw results. This section should be reproducible by any competent examiner given the same access.
- Report component
- Records observed data without interpretation
- Typical content
- Dimensions, photographs, context descriptions, sample inventory, raw results
- Reproducibility standard
- Any competent examiner given the same access should reach the same factual section
- Companion section
- Interpretation or opinion section
Common questions
Why is reproducibility the test for a well-written factual section?+
If a second examiner working from the same access and materials cannot arrive at the same recorded observations, the factual section has smuggled in interpretation or omitted detail, which weakens the report under cross-examination and undermines the separation between fact and opinion the report is meant to preserve.
What happens if interpretation creeps into the factual section?+
Mixing interpretation into supposedly raw observations makes the report harder for opposing experts and the court to evaluate, since it becomes unclear which statements are verifiable data and which are the examiner's judgment calls open to challenge.
Related terms
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- Interpretive Section
- The portion of the report where the expert explains what the facts mean: the mechanism that created the observed pattern, what the...
- Site Archive
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- Terminus Post Quem / Ante Quem
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