Transient Evidence Law and Legal Definition
Transient evidence is a type of evidence that has no meaning or that by its very nature can be easily changed or lost. For instance, transient evidence includes temperature, odor, blood in the rain, and some biological and physical phenomenon. Transient evidence indicates elements of physical evidence that might be expected to degrade or disappear within a particular time frame. Transient evidence will lose its evidentiary value if not preserved and protected. It is used in criminal forensics. It is one of the five primary categories of physical evidence, others being conditional evidence, pattern evidence, transfer evidence and associative evidence. The American College of Legal Medicine has codified transient evidence as physical evidence in Legal Medicine.