What does material witness mean?
Definitions for material witness
ma·te·rial wit·ness
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word material witness.
Princeton's WordNet
material witnessnoun
a witness whose testimony is both relevant to the matter at issue and required in order to resolve the matter
ChatGPT
material witness
A material witness is a person who possesses significant, relevant, and often firsthand information or evidence about a criminal proceeding or a lawsuit that can greatly influence the outcome of the case. They typically have seen or heard something in direct relation to the matter being investigated, making their testimony crucial to providing facts needed to support or disprove claims.
Wikidata
Material witness
A material witness is a person with information alleged to be material concerning a criminal proceeding. The authority to detain material witnesses dates to the First Judiciary Act of 1789, but the Bail Reform Act of 1984 most recently amended the text of the statute, and it is now codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3144. The most recent version allows material witnesses to be held to ensure the giving of their testimony in criminal proceedings or to a grand jury. Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. has used the material witness statute to detain suspects without charge for indefinite periods of time, often under the rubric of securing grand-jury testimony. This use of the statute is controversial and is currently under judicial review. In Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, the detainee was never charged or called as a witness, and sued the U.S. Attorney General in office at the time he was held. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and held that John Ashcroft had immunity because of his official position.
Matched Categories
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of material witness in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of material witness in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
Translations for material witness
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- 물질적 증인Korean
Get even more translations for material witness »
Translation
Find a translation for the material witness definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"material witness." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 5 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/material+witness>.
Discuss these material witness definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In