Also known as: disproves · disproved · disproving · disproof
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
To refute an assertion or allegation by proof of its falsity. The demonstration may arise from contradictory evidence or from the absence of required proof.
Derek Douglas sued Delta Dynamics for breach of a supply contract after the company stopped deliveries. At trial Derek offered an email in which Delta had proposed a $400,000 payment to end the dispute. The court excluded the email because it was offered to disprove the amount of the claim.
Daniel Diaz was charged with murder. He introduced psychiatric testimony that he suffered from delusions at the time of the shooting. The prosecution responded with lay-witness accounts to disprove the claim of legal insanity.
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Daphne Doyle sued Decker Electronics claiming its product caused birth defects. Plaintiffs' experts offered studies showing only a relative risk below two. The court held the studies tended to disprove rather than establish legal causation.
Doris Duffy challenged her death sentence by presenting regression data on race and capital verdicts. The state introduced its own models to disprove any inference of purposeful discrimination in the charging decisions.
Dustin Donovan petitioned to set aside an environmental regulation. The agency defended the rule by showing that the statute did not require the stricter standard petitioners sought to impose.
Dorothy Daniels sued over a merger proxy that allegedly misrepresented board motives. The defendants introduced board minutes to disprove the claim that the directors had acted for improper personal reasons.
Rule 408 excludes compromise offers and statements made during negotiations when offered to prove or disprove the validity or amount of a disputed claim. The bar applies regardless of which party offers the evidence.
Under Model Penal Code section 1.12 the prosecution must disprove an affirmative defense only after the defendant produces evidence supporting it. The burden of production therefore shifts first to the defense.
Jury instructions that create a mandatory presumption of intent violate due process because they relieve the prosecution of its burden to prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant cannot be required to disprove an essential element such as intent to kill.
…to prove rather than refute causation. A relative risk of less than two may suggest teratogenicity, but it actually tends to disprove legal causation, as it shows that Bendectin does not double the likelihood of birth defects.[^maj-17] With the exception of Dr. Palmer, whose testimony is inadmissible under the first…