https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resource...The heart of the case is the presentation of evidence. There are two types of evidence -- direct and circumstantial.
Direct evidence usually is that which speaks for itself: eyewitness accounts, a confession, or a weapon.
Circumstantial evidence usually is that which suggests a fact by implication or inference: the appearance of the scene of a crime, testimony that suggests a connection or link with a crime, physical evidence that suggests criminal activity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_evidence
In direct evidence, a witness relates what they directly experienced.
Circumstantial evidence, by contrast, consists of a fact or set of facts which, if proven, will support the creation of an inference that the matter asserted is true.
https://youtu.be/4xGluGlQgdA?t=310
Direct evidence, often in the form of eyewitness testimony, can be extraordinarily weak. On the contrary, DNA evidence, for example, is 100% circumstantial.