Legal Definitions - probative facts

Probative facts are pieces of evidence or information that have the power to prove or disprove a specific point or claim in a legal proceeding. They are facts that make a particular assertion more or less likely to be true, thereby helping a judge or jury reach a conclusion about an issue in dispute.

• In a Contract Dispute: Imagine a business sues a supplier, claiming the supplier failed to deliver a crucial component by the agreed-upon date, causing significant financial loss. A probative fact in this case could be a series of emails from the supplier to the business, sent *before* the deadline, explicitly stating that production delays would prevent timely delivery and proposing an alternative, later date.

  How this illustrates the term: These emails are probative because they tend to prove that the supplier communicated potential delays in advance, which might disprove the business's claim that the supplier simply failed without warning, or it might prove the supplier knew they would breach the contract. Depending on the contract's terms, this fact could significantly influence the outcome regarding liability or damages.

• In a Criminal Theft Case: Consider a person accused of stealing a valuable painting from an art gallery. A probative fact might be security camera footage from a nearby street showing the accused individual, wearing distinctive clothing, running away from the gallery carrying a large, wrapped object resembling the stolen painting, just minutes after the theft was reported.

  How this illustrates the term: This footage is probative because it directly tends to prove the accused's involvement in the theft by placing them at the scene, at the relevant time, with an item consistent with the stolen property. It makes the assertion that the accused committed the theft significantly more likely to be true.

• In a Child Custody Hearing: During a custody battle, one parent alleges that the other parent consistently neglects the child's educational needs. A probative fact could be a collection of report cards and attendance records from the child's school over several semesters, consistently showing numerous unexcused absences and failing grades, coupled with documented attempts by the school to contact the accused parent about these issues, which went unanswered.

  How this illustrates the term: These documents are probative because they tend to prove the allegation of educational neglect. The consistent pattern of absences, poor grades, and lack of parental response makes the claim that the parent is failing to meet the child's educational needs more likely to be true, which could influence the court's custody decision.