Presumptive evidence


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(Law) that which is derived from circumstances which necessarily or usually attend a fact, as distinct from direct evidence or positive proof; indirect or circumstantial evidence. "Presumptive evidence of felony should be cautiously admitted." Blackstone. The distinction, however, between direct and presumptive (or circumstantial) evidence is now generally abandoned; all evidence being now more or less direct and more or less presumptive.
- Blackstone.

See also: Presumptive

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by G. & C. Merriam Co.
References in classic literature ?
The Black Lion was so far off, and occupied such a length of time in the getting at, that notwithstanding the strong presumptive evidence she had about her of the late events being real and of actual occurrence, Dolly could not divest herself of the belief that she must be in a dream which was lasting all night.
Outbreak control measures included identifying exposed persons and assessment of their presumptive immunity to measles,* recommending vaccination of persons lacking presumptive evidence of immunity, administering postexposure prophylaxis with measles, mumps, rubella vaccine or immunoglobulin for eligible persons, and implementing social distancing strategies (e.g., isolation of patients and home quarantine of exposed persons without presumptive evidence of immunity) (2).
Unusual behavior or death of the animal is presumptive evidence of rabies.
(3,4) For the purposes of this investigation, presumptive evidence of mumps immunity was defined as either valid documentation of 2 doses of MMR vaccine for contacts over age 4 years, or laboratory evidence of immunity by positive mumps IgG serology, referred to hereafter as "mumps titer." (3) All individuals involved in this investigation were born after 1957; thus, presumptive immunity based on age was not a consideration.
The court also considered as presumptive evidence Luy's daily financial records because these are regular records.
This agrees with a previous study of AQP expression in rat urinary bladder.[sup.11] In this previous study by Spector and colleagues, the authors showed that dehydration in rats led to a significant upregulation of AQP2 and AQP3 expression, thus providing presumptive evidence that AQPs are involved in water and solute transport.
1204), the Jewish theologian, quoted Exodus 23:7, "The innocent and righteous slay thou not," when he argued that God "has shut this door" against the use of presumptive evidence, and parsed "beyond a reasonable doubt" to "near absolute certainty", for "it is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death."
A suicide rehearsal is presumptive evidence that the patient is at acute, high risk for suicide and immediate clinical intervention is necessary.
But in most testing situations, a positive test result in a person with signs or symptoms of dengue fever should be considered presumptive evidence of the disease.