148 Unit 4 Applied critical thinking
going on does not mean she actively took part
in it. Besides, his identification of Amelia is
practically worthless, for reasons which will be
discussed in the next chapter. You may also
have detected a possible tone of disapproval in
his statement, for Amelia or for student
demonstrators generally, which could be
interpreted as prejudice. He might want her to
be guilty, for one reason or another.• Evidence takes many forms.
• The terms ‘evidence’ and ‘reason’ have
some overlap in meaning when used in the
context of arguments, and care must be
taken to use them appropriately.
• Evidence can be divided into two main
categories: direct and indirect (or
circumstantial). Circumstantial evidence
requires an inference to be made from the
facts to the conclusion.
• Evidence is strongest when it is
corroborated by other evidence.Summary
reason to say anything which would assist
Amelia. Evidently he doesn’t even know her.
You may have answered these questions
slightly differently, but you should have
registered that the circumstantial evidence
against Amelia now looks less threatening. It
fits just as well with her statement as it does
with the charge made against her. What has
always to be remembered with circumstantial
evidence is that if it can be explained away,
and the explanation is not far-fetched, no safe
conclusion can be drawn from it. An
evaluation of the evidence in this case would
not be nearly strong enough to justify a
conviction because any number of students, or
others, could have bought eggs, and could
have thrown them. Amelia is no longer in a
special position, but is one of many potential
suspects.
What about the ‘eyewitness’ statement?
Prima facie (meaning ‘on the face of it’) this
may seem to count against Amelia. However,
there are a number of weaknesses in Rajinder
Choudhury’s evidence that you should have
noted. Firstly, he did not see Amelia actually
throw anything; all he saw was her reaction.
The claim that she was enjoying what was