Legal Definitions - aliunde

Aliunde is a legal term meaning from another source or from elsewhere. It refers to information, evidence, or proof that comes from outside the main document, record, or proceeding being examined. When something is proven aliunde, it means the proof is external to the primary source itself.

• Example 1: Clarifying a Contract
  Imagine a written contract for a custom-built machine states "delivery by year-end." The buyer later claims they meant the *fiscal* year-end, while the seller understood it to mean the *calendar* year-end. If the court allows testimony from a previous email exchange between the parties, where they explicitly discussed "fiscal year-end" in relation to this specific contract, that email would be considered evidence aliunde. It is information from an external source (the email) used to clarify an ambiguity in the main document (the contract).

• Example 2: Challenging a Jury Verdict
  After a jury delivers a verdict in a criminal trial, one of the jurors tells a reporter that another juror brought a newspaper clipping about the defendant's prior arrests into the deliberation room, even though the judge had instructed them not to consider such information. The newspaper clipping and the juror's statement about it would be considered evidence aliunde if presented to the court. This external information, coming from outside the official trial proceedings and jury room record, could be used to argue that the jury's verdict was improperly influenced.

• Example 3: Verifying Document Authenticity
  Suppose a will is presented to a court, but there are questions about its authenticity because the signature looks unusual. To prove the will is genuine, the executor provides sworn statements from two witnesses who were present when the will was signed, confirming they saw the deceased sign it. These witness statements are considered proof aliunde. They are external sources of information, separate from the will itself, used to establish the validity of the document.