Inculpatory and Exculpatory Evidence - Essay Example

A good example of inculpatory evidence is when a husband uses a knife to kill his spouse and the blood-stained knife is later on found in his possession. The knife can therefore be described as inculpatory evidence against the man (Sperry, 2006).

Conversely, exculpatory evidence is evidence that favors the defendant in a criminal lawsuit (Sperry, 2006). It tends to absolve the defendant of any guilt that the case had placed on him or her. It is the direct opposite of the inculpatory type of evidence which tends to enhance the guilt of the defendant in a criminal case (Sperry, 2006). Many countries around the globe such as the United States of America, enforce policies that restrain the prosecutors in their courts from disclosing any of this type of evidence. This evidence is only released when the defendant in a criminal lawsuit makes a claim of being guilty or not being guilty (Sperry, 2006). A good example of such evidence exists where a witness comes up in a criminal lawsuit and absolves the accused person of all the blame in question.