Personal evidence
Persons evidence are litigation evidence over or through natural persons that the law enforcement agencies ( police , prosecutor's office ) and the court the evidence of a crime or delinquent act. This mainly concerns statements, but also alibis .
General
Personal evidence is not a stand-alone piece of evidence, but is combined with the factual evidence to be evaluated by the law enforcement authorities and the courts when establishing the truth. The personal evidence is more unreliable than the physical evidence. Witnesses usually observe a crime unprepared and therefore inattentive; Environment, concentration , emotional state and selective perception influence their perception ; they have a subjective filter of perception based on their experience . Subjective interpretations also give rise to a distorted picture of the true course of events. Finally, perception is also impaired by physical / mental ailments, alcohol, drugs, forgetfulness or corruption. Factual evidence does not have these inner weaknesses. More than the factual evidence, the personal evidence requires interpretation. Personal evidence can be withdrawn, changed or its credibility questioned. Therefore, due to their factual nature (immutability), material evidence is more conclusive for reaching a judgment.
species
- Witnesses (Section 48 of the Code of Criminal Procedure ): they are fundamentally obliged to give evidence, provided there are no statutory exceptions. Witnesses can be the victim or third party observer of the crime . The testimony of the witness can be confirmed by oath ( § 59 StPO).
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Court expert: he delivers an expert opinion (§ 72 ff. StPO) if the court lacks the necessary expertise. The consultation of an expert is mandatory in the following cases:
- Examinations and opening of bodies ( Section 87 StPO),
- Suspected poisoning ( § 91 StPO) and
- Counterfeiting of money ( § 92 StPO).
- Accused ( § 157 StPO): The statements , statements and confessions of the accused on the matter ( § 243 Abs. 5 StPO) are treated as evidence by the prevailing opinion . In criminal proceedings , the police are entitled to work towards a confession; the limits to this can be found in Section 343 of the Criminal Code ( extortion of testimony ). A credible, plausible confession is usually of considerable importance for the question of guilt, so that the statement of the accused on the matter is an "important source of knowledge of the facts". The confession can even act as the sole basis of the judgment ( Section 260 (1) and (4) StPO).
revocation
Both the accused and the witness can withdraw their testimony. In the case of witnesses, revocation is possible until the end of their interrogation ( Section 52 (3) sentence 2 StPO), accused can even revoke their confession during the main hearing; Even a revocation in the appeal procedure is still possible ( § 535 StPO). In that case, however, the court must examine the circumstances under which a confession was obtained. A confession does not exempt from the obligation to back it up with other evidence (material evidence and other personal evidence). This revocability or modifiability of personal evidence shows the uncertainty of this evidence in comparison to the physical evidence.
