Legal Definitions - eyewitness

An eyewitness is a person who has direct, firsthand knowledge of an event because they personally saw it happen. Their observations are based on what they perceived with their own eyes at the time the event occurred, making them a potential source of information, particularly in legal proceedings.

• Example 1: A pedestrian is waiting at a crosswalk and sees two cars collide at an intersection. The pedestrian later provides a statement to the police describing the color of the cars, their direction of travel, and the point of impact.

  Explanation: The pedestrian is an eyewitness because they personally observed the entire car accident unfold. Their testimony is based on what they directly saw, not on what someone else told them.

• Example 2: A homeowner is looking out their kitchen window and watches a delivery driver accidentally drop and shatter a package containing fragile items on their porch.

  Explanation: The homeowner is an eyewitness to the package being damaged. They directly saw the driver drop the package and the subsequent breakage, providing firsthand knowledge of the incident.

• Example 3: During a public protest, a journalist stands near the front lines and observes a specific interaction between a demonstrator and a police officer, including the sequence of events leading to an arrest.

  Explanation: The journalist acts as an eyewitness because they were physically present and saw the interaction firsthand. Their report or testimony would be based on their direct visual perception of the events as they happened.