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tain specified circumstances the proof of the contents of 
writings is permitted—as when the original has been de¬ 
stroyed—by means of copies, oral testimony, etc., called 
“secondary evidence.” 
Along with oral testimony there may also be produced 
in evidence and identified by the witnesses various things 
other than documents which it is desired to have the jury 
inspect. Such documents and objects are designated as 
“exhibits.” 
PRODUCTION AND EFFECT OF EVIDENCE. 
As to parties by whom proof must be produced, it is 
obvious that the suitor who relies upon certain facts 
should be called upon to prove them. The general rule 
is that the burden of proof is upon the party who asserts 
the affirmative of the issue. In a criminal proceeding the 
burden of proof is upon the prosecution, which, in order 
to obtain a conviction, must prove the guilt of the accused 
beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecution must pro¬ 
duce its evidence first, and must exhaust its evidence in 
the first instance; that is, the prosecution may not first 
rely upon a prima facie case and, after that has been 
shaken by the proof offered by the accused, call other 
evidence to confirm it. After the accused has concluded 
his proof the prosecution can bring in further evidence only 
for the purpose of contradicting the affirmative facts 
brought into the case by the accused, and may not attempt 
to prove his guilt by evidence of a state of facts different 
from that offered in the first instance. 
Thus, if in the trial on an indictment of the accused for 
willfully setting on fire certain timber, underbrush, and 
grass on the public domain, evidence be offered that the 
accused set certain lenses designed to concentrate the 
rays of the sun on a bunch of matches surrounded by 
inflammable material, and that thereafter the fire occurred; 
and should the accused then offer evidence to the effect 
that the so-called lenses were defective and would not 
concentrate the rays of the sun, the prosecution could 
attempt to contradict this evidence of the accused, but 
could not offer evidence tending to show that the accused, 
