LEGAL PRINCIPLE: EVIDENCE LAW – Weight of Evidence – Address of Counsel – Status as Evidence – Inadequacy to Supplement Evidence

Counsel’s address is not evidence and cannot substitute for or supplement actual evidence. Proper function: Address should: analyze evidence already before court, make submissions on evidence, and argue inferences from evidence. Not evidence: Address is argument, not proof—counsel’s statements aren’t evidence. Cannot substitute: Mentioning matter in address cannot: replace evidence not led, prove facts not testified to, or establish claims without evidentiary foundation. Cannot supplement: Address cannot: fill gaps in evidence, cure inadequate evidence, or add to insufficient proof. This serves: maintaining distinction between evidence and argument, requiring actual proof not mere assertion, and preventing counsel from testifying through argument. Why important: Evidence comes from: witnesses under oath, documents properly admitted, and judicial notice—not counsel’s statements. Counsel’s role: present evidence then argue its significance—not create evidence through argument. Application: Courts must: ignore factual assertions in address unsupported by evidence, base findings only on actual evidence, and not supplement weak evidence with counsel’s address. If matter mentioned only in address: not proven, cannot be relied upon, and must be disregarded. This prevents: counsel from bypassing evidence rules through argument, treating submissions as proof, and smuggling unproven facts into record through addresses. The principle maintains evidentiary integrity by confining addresses to their proper role—arguing about evidence, not creating it.