Interpretive Section
Definition
The portion of the report where the expert explains what the facts mean: the mechanism that created the observed pattern, what the taphonomy implies about PMI, what the micro-remains suggest about provenance. This is where expertise is applied and where cross-examination focuses.
- Function
- Explains what the factual findings mean
- Typical content
- Mechanism, PMI implications, provenance conclusions
- Cross-examination focus
- High, this is where reasoning is tested
Common questions
Why does cross-examination concentrate on this section?+
The factual findings are largely uncontested measurements, while the interpretive section contains the expert's reasoning and judgment calls, which opposing counsel can probe for alternative explanations.
What should support each interpretive claim?+
The underlying data or published literature the expert relied on, stated explicitly so the reasoning chain from fact to conclusion is traceable and can be checked.
Related terms
- CPR Part 35 (England and Wales)
- The Civil Procedure Rules Part 35 that governs expert witnesses in civil proceedings in England and Wales. The equivalent for criminal proceedings...
- Factual Section
- The portion of a forensic report that records observed data without interpretation: dimensions, photographs, context descriptions, sample inventory, analytical raw results. This...
- FRE 702
- Federal Rule of Evidence 702, the US statutory basis for expert testimony admissibility. Amended in 2000 and again in 2023 to reflect...
- Site Archive
- The complete record of a forensic excavation: field notebooks, context sheets, photographic record, sample register, finds catalogue, and digital survey data. In...
- Terminus Post Quem / Ante Quem
- Latin terms for the earliest possible date (TPQ) and latest possible date (TAQ) of an event, derived from contextual or artefactual evidence....