When called to court as a public servant to recount observations, you are referred to as what type of witness?

When you are called to court as a public servant to recount your observations, you are categorized as a fact witness. A fact witness is someone who has direct knowledge of the facts related to the case. This means that you provide testimony based on your personal experiences or observations, which can include what you saw, heard, or otherwise directly experienced related to an event or situation.

The role of a fact witness is to relay truthful accounts and provide information that can help establish the facts of the case. This is distinct from other types of witnesses like expert witnesses, who offer specialized knowledge or opinions based on their expertise; character witnesses, who speak to the character of a party involved in the case; or material witnesses, who have information that is critical to the case but may not directly testify about what they observed.

Being a fact witness emphasizes the importance of firsthand accounts in legal proceedings, as they help to build a concrete and factual basis for understanding events in question.