Tierney v. Quinn, 175 A.2d 725, 157 Me. 542 (Me. 1961)
A 'chalk' is not evidence in itself, and yet it is often a most useful and indeed an indispensable tool in the courtroom in reconstructing the past or otherwise illustrating the testimony of the witness on the stand. Here, for example, the presiding Justice had before him the 'fair representation' of the scene to aid in making alive the action of a few seconds in which an automobile traveling along a city street collides with an automobile crossing its path. Without the 'fair representation', the record lacks life. The unknowns are multiplied. What happened? What facts, in looking at the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, aided the Justice in reaching his decision? Surely the 'fair representation' on the blackboard with its marks and lines explained the evidence and made it more intelligible.
A diagram, or plan, properly introduced in evidence would have told us what the witnesses told the judge and jury. We would then have had the full story of the case available for our consideration. Photographs were introduced to describe the damage to the cars. So also a diagram or plan should have been introduced to preserve the meaning of the testimony. There is nothing to indicate that this procedure could not have been readily adopted.
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