Definition
"Dence" is not an independent legal term. The entries attributed to this headword in Bouvier's Law Dictionary are fragments of the word EVIDENCE — specifically, the tail end of compound or qualified evidence terms whose full headwords have been truncated in the source text. The recoverable content from these fragments corresponds to three recognized legal concepts:
1. NEW EVIDENCE (in practice): Proof of a new and material fact ascertained after a verdict has been rendered. This is the basis for post-trial motions and new trial applications grounded on newly discovered evidence.
2. PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE: The greater weight of evidence; the standard of proof in most civil proceedings requiring that a party's evidence be more convincing than the opposing party's.
3. SELF-REGARDING EVIDENCE: Evidence for or against a party furnished by the party's own language or demeanor, or that of those who represent the party. When favorable to the party supplying it, it is termed "self-serving evidence"; when unfavorable, "self-disserving evidence." The same terms apply to the statements and demeanor of witnesses. Self-serving evidence is generally inadmissible when offered by the party it benefits, subject to recognized exceptions.
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Common Confusion
Researchers encountering "DENCE" as a dictionary headword in digitized or transcribed versions of Bouvier's should treat it as a scanning or transcription artifact, not a distinct legal term. The entries gathered under this headword belong properly under EVIDENCE and its subtypes. This confusion is a product of optical character recognition (OCR) errors or broken page formatting in digitized historical sources — a recurring problem with 19th-century legal dictionaries in digital corpora.
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Why It Matters in Research
This entry is a navigational warning, not a substantive definition. Researchers using the Law Mind corpus should be alert to the following:
ARTIFACT HEADWORDS: Digitized versions of Bouvier's and similar historical law dictionaries frequently generate false headwords when page breaks, column breaks, or OCR errors split a word mid-character. "DENCE" is a clean example — it is the second half of "EVIDENCE" separated from its prefix by a formatting boundary.
CONTENT RECOVERY: Despite the corrupted headword, the underlying fragment content is substantively real. The three concepts recoverable from these entries — newly discovered evidence as grounds for new trial, preponderance as a civil standard of proof, and the self-serving/self-disserving evidence distinction — are all legitimate Bouvier's topics and remain legally significant today.
SELF-SERVING EVIDENCE: The fragment on self-regarding evidence is particularly useful. The self-serving evidence rule (excluding a party's own out-of-court statements offered to help that party) is a persistent and sometimes misapplied doctrine. Historical treatments in Bouvier's reflect a stricter exclusionary baseline than modern evidence law, where numerous exceptions (party admissions, business records, state of mind) have expanded admissibility significantly.
NEWLY DISCOVERED EVIDENCE: The fragment on post-verdict new evidence connects to an area where historical and modern doctrine diverge in procedural detail. Courts have consistently applied a high threshold — the evidence must have been unknown and undiscoverable before trial through reasonable diligence — but the procedural vehicle (motion for new trial, motion to vacate, petition for post-conviction relief) varies by jurisdiction and era.
PREPONDERANCE: The "greater weight of evidence" fragment aligns with Bouvier's standard treatment of the civil burden of proof. Historical sources use "greater weight" and "preponderance" interchangeably; modern courts prefer "preponderance" but mean the same thing.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's Law Dictionary is the sole source represented here. All four entries attributed to the headword "DENCE" are fragments: one addresses newly discovered evidence as a post-verdict ground for relief; one equates preponderance with greater weight of evidence; one cross-references self-regarding evidence without substantive content; and one defines self-regarding evidence and introduces the self-serving/self-disserving distinction.
These fragments, read together, are internally consistent with Bouvier's broader treatment of evidence throughout the dictionary. No other historical dictionary in the corpus (Black's, Rapalje & Lawrence, Burrill) uses "DENCE" as a headword. The term does not appear in any common law treatise or statutory framework as a recognized legal concept.
The self-regarding evidence entry is the most substantive fragment. Bouvier's position — that self-serving evidence is not originally admissible — reflects the 19th-century common law baseline. Modern evidence codes (including the Federal Rules of Evidence) have substantially modified this through rules governing party admissions, prior consistent statements, and hearsay exceptions.
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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See EVIDENCE in the Law Mind Encyclopedia for full treatment of evidentiary concepts referenced in these fragments, including burden of proof standards, the self-serving evidence rule, and newly discovered evidence as grounds for post-trial relief.
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