What defines physical evidence in a forensic context?

In a forensic context, physical evidence is defined as any objects that can establish a crime or link a victim to a perpetrator. This type of evidence is crucial because it encompasses tangible items found at the crime scene that can be analyzed to provide insights into what occurred during the crime. Examples of physical evidence include fingerprints, blood samples, weapon fragments, and fibers.

Using physical evidence can help investigators reconstruct events, identify suspects, or confirm the presence of a victim at a given location. The primary function of physical evidence is its ability to offer objective, scientific support to an investigation, which can be validated and analyzed through various forensic techniques.

Materials gathered for testing, while related to physical evidence, do not inherently establish connections between individuals and crimes. Similarly, documents related to the crime scene and witness statements can provide context and additional information, but they do not possess the same direct capacity to link actions or individuals to criminal activity as physical evidence does. Hence, the definition emphasizing the role of physical evidence in linking crimes to perpetrators or victims is the most accurate in this context.