Evidence sheets
Students in various versions of my JFK course have found it helpful to
organize their thoughts on various important ideas by summarizing the evidence
for and against them (or having the evidence summarized for them) on individual
sheets that I call evidence sheets. These sheets begin with very simple
propositions such as "At least one shot was fired that day" and range
upward in complexity until they reach the critical "JFK was killed by a
conspiracy" and "JFK was not killed by a conspiracy." Depending
on the needs of the class, we can deal with 20 to 40 evidence sheets. The great
advantage of these sheets is that they help students to focus their thoughts on
pieces of evidence and their characteristics. The two most common results of
working with evidence sheets is that students come to realize that (1) much less
is known for certain about the assassination than they think, but that (2) much
more can be done with that certain evidence than they think.
The format of an evidence sheet is very simple. (See Template
2020.) At the top is the proposition to be evaluated, such as "At least
one shot was fired that day." Below it is a big table, with rows for each
piece of evidence and four columns for each row: the piece of evidence, whether
it is direct or indirect, whether it is strong or weak, and whether it is
valid or invalid (i.e., right or wrong). (See the essay
on types of evidence for a discussion of these criteria.) The pieces of
evidence for the proposition are grouped in the top half of the table; those
against the proposition, below. If possible, the stronger evidence within
"for" or "against" is usually listed first. At the bottom is
space to summarize the strength of the evidence for and against and give the
general conclusion (whether the proposition is rejected or retained). I
encourage all external participants in the course to work with these evidence
sheets for themselves and offer any comments that they wish, such as on the
choice of evidence and how we evaluate it. The more points of view on something
as important as evidence, the better.
List of evidence sheets
At least one shooter fired
At least two shooters fired
At least three shooters fired
At least one shot was fired
At least two shots were fired
At least three shots were fired
At least one shot was fired
from the Dal-Tex Building
At least one shot was fired from
the Depository
At least one shot was fired
from the County Courts Building
At least one shot was
fired from the grassy knoll
At least one shot was fired from
the rear
At least one shot was
fired from the front or side
At least one shot was
fired from other then the Depository
JFK's head was hit from the rear
JFK's head was hit from the front
or the side