Witness
Under California law, a witness is someone who has, who claims to have, or is thought, by someone with authority to compel testimony, to have knowledge relevant to an event or other matter of interest. A witness in your case will, either voluntarily or under compulsion of the law, provide testimonial evidence of what they know or claim to know about a particular matter in your case to a judicial officer.
Witnesses might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before an administrative tribunal, before a deposition officer, or in a variety of other proceedings (e.g., judgment debtor examination).
Percipient
A California percipient witness or eyewitness is one who testifies what they perceived an event through their senses (e.g.: seeing, hearing, smelling, touching). That perception might be either with the unaided human sense or with the aid of an instrument (e.g.: microscope or stethoscope, or by other scientific means).
Hearsay
A California hearsay witness is one who testifies what someone else said or wrote about an event. In most court proceedings there are many limitations on when hearsay evidence is admissible. Such limitations do not apply to grand jury investigations, many administrative proceedings, and may not apply to declarations used in support of an arrest or search warrant. Additionally, certain statements are not deemed to be hearsay and are not subject to such limitations.
Experts
An California expert witness is one who allegedly has specialized knowledge relevant to the matter of interest, which knowledge purportedly helps to either make sense of other evidence, including other testimony, documentary evidence or physical evidence (e.g., a fingerprint or medical condition). An expert witness may or may not also be a percipient witness, as in a doctor or may or may not have treated the victim of an accident or crime.
Reputation
A California reputation witness is one who testifies about the reputation of a person or business entity, when reputation is material to the dispute at issue.
The following witness information sheet is to be used to support allegations made in moving papers.
File Download (PDF File): Witness Information Sheet
For additional information click on one of the following links:
California Criminal Protective Order
