Indicia

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Indicia \In*di"ci*a\, n. pl. [L., pl. of indicium, fr. index an
     index.] (Law)
     Discriminating marks; signs; tokens; indications;
     appearances. --Burrill.
     [1913 Webster]



From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  INDICIA, civil law. Signs, marks. Example: in replevin, the chattel must 
  possess indicia, or earmarks, by which it can be distinguished from all 
  others of the same description. 4 Bouv. Inst. n. 3556. This term is very 
  nearly synonymous with the common law phrase, "circumstantial evidence." It 
  was used to designate the facts giving rise to the indirect inference, 
  rather than the inference itself; as, for example, the possession of goods 
  recently stolen, vicinity to the scene of the crime, sudden change in 
  circumstances or conduct, &c. Mascardus, de Prob. lib. 1, quaest. 15; Dall. 
  Dict. Competence Criminelle, 92, 415; Morin, Dict. du Droit Criminal, mots 
  Accusation, Chambre du Conseil. 
       2. Indicia may be defined to be conjectures, which result from 
  circumstances not absolutely necessary and certain, but merely probable, and 
  which may turn out not to be true, though they have the appearance of truth. 
  Denisart, mot Indices. See Best on Pres. 13, note f. 
       3. However numerous indicia may be, they only show that a thing may be, 
  not that it has been. An indicium, can have effect only when a connexion is 
  essentially necessary with the principal. Effects are known by their causes, 
  but only when the effects can arise only from the causes to which they. are 
  attributed. When several causes may have produced one and the same effect, 
  it is, therefore, unreasonable to attribute it to any one of such causes. A 
  combination of circumstances sometimes conspire against an innocent person, 
  and, like mute witnesses, depose against him. There is danger in such cases, 
  that a jury may be misled; their minds prejudiced, their indignation unduly 
  excited, or their zeal seduced. Under impressions thus produced, they may 
  forget their true relation to the accused, and condemn a man whom they would 
  have acquitted had they required that proof and certainty which the law 
  demands. See D'Aguesseau, Oeuvres, vol. xiii. p. 243. See Circumstances.