The formation of time lines is often a very useful heuristic tool. (In some situations it is practically an indispensable one.) Time lines are an important way-station to other methods of organizing and assessing evidence.

The term "time line" has at least two or three connotations. The phrase is sometimes used as a synonym for "story" or "scenario." There is nothing illegitimate about this sort of broad sense of "time line." But I prefer to use a narrow connotation because a "time line" taken in the broader sense(s) involves several distinct methods of organizing evidence. I use "time line" as a synonym for "event chronology" (and for the sake of clarity, I urge you to do the same in this course). A time line in this narrow sense -- an event chronology -- is nothing more than a list of evidentially-supported (possible) events in their (possible) temporal order. An event chronology of this sort does not involve (i) an assessment of the strength of the evidence for the events listed in temporal order or (ii) an assessment of the causal connections between the events that are listed in their possible temporal order.

The assessment of the strength of the evidence for a possible event requires or involves a distinct method of marshaling or organizing evidence and argument about evidence. For purposes of an event chronology we say that evidence "supports" an event in a time line if evidence "hints" at or suggests such an event.

The assessment of the (possible) connections among events in time also involves a different kind of reasoning. The question of how events are connected in time involves the question of how prior events influence posterior events, how and to what extent prior events make the occurrence of posterior events more probable. Such connections among events, many theorists think, are "causal" connections. A time line (in my usage) does not present the question of causal relationships or connections.

I shall not go to the trouble of distinguishing time lines a/k/a event chronologies from "stories." This is because "story" has a wide variety of meanings or connotations. For example, sometimes (but not always) "story" involves rhetorical elements. And sometimes (but not always) "story" connotes pure fiction or imagination, with no requirement that any element of the story have any evidential support. Event chronologies are different from these sorts of methods of organizing evidence or thought.

To illustrate the formation of time lines I hereby borrow and modify an example I have used on a couple of other occasions:

Your name is Able -- Able Attorney. Your nickname is Slick. You are a lawyer. You work in Middletown, Middle State, U.S.A.

The date is October 5, 2000. The time is 8:45 a.m. You have just arrived in your office. Just then Dale, your legal secretary, ushers Peter Plaintiff into your office.

Dale explains that Peter has asked to see you. You are irritated; you haven't had a chance to drink your coffee, check your phone for messages, or consider whether you even want to see Peter. Nonetheless, you say, "I'm very glad to meet you, Peter. You don't mind if I call you Peter, do you? How can I help you?"

Peter tells you that he wants to explore the possibility of bringing a personal injury action against the owner of a "convenience" store. You ask Peter for details.

Peter tells you that he was shot in the head by a clerk at a "Happy Valley" store in Madison City (in Middle State) a few months ago. He explains that he thinks that the clerk who shot him was either negligent, reckless, or malevolent.

Peter adds, "I personally lean toward the malevolence hypothesis. I know that clerk. He's a vicious s.o.b. His name is Harry. His nickname is Dirt. And that's no accident."

You ask Peter for further details. He tells you that he went to the Happy Valley store on the night of April 1, 2000. He says that he remembers entering the store at 10:45 p.m. He also vividly remembers seeing a blinding flash immediately after entering the store.

"The next thing I remember," Peter says, "is coming back to consciousness just as two white-coated men were carrying me out of the convenience store on a stretcher."

Peter adds, "They took me to a hospital -- General Hospital -- where I stayed for about three months. When I got to the hospital that night, the doctors told me I had been shot in the head. They took me right into surgery. Later I had two more operations. I'll probably have several more. I hope you'll keep this in mind. I don't talk or think as well as I once did."

You ask Peter, "What makes you think that the clerk at that store -- Harry, was it? -- what makes you think that Harry was the guy who shot you? Did you see him shoot you?"

Peter answers, "No, I didn't. But the local police told me that they suspect that Harry did the shooting." You ask, "Did they interview Harry? Did he confess?"

Peter says, "I don't know for sure but I don't think so. The local newspaper reported that Harry disappeared after the shooting. I guess he fled."

You ask, "Why would he have shot you?"

Peter states, "I dunno. My guess is that he thought I was a robber and that he plugged me when I walked through the door that night."

You say, "That's malicious?"

Peter states, "Yeah, I think it was. Harry wasn't the kind of person who worried a lot about other people's welfare. He was kind of paranoid. He probably shot me because I wasn't walking right or because I was squinting my eyes. Who knows? But there's one thing I know for sure: Harry was a bad dude. He was bound to shoot somebody some day. Happy Valley Company had no business hiring him." 

You are now in Slick's shoes. You want to begin by constructing a simple line. You like diagrams. You also like to use the "grammar" shown in Figure 1 to develop and sketch time lines.

You (Slick) might use the above symbols to sketch the time line shown in Figure 2.

Note 1: The time line in Figure 2 is not the only time line supported or suggested by the evidence or information found in the italicized and indented passage above. Slick has made a selection from the evidence in his possession. Presumably some criterion, implicit or explicit, has guided Slick's selection.

Note 1: Question: Of what possible use is the sort of time line shown in Figure 2? Answer: One possible use is that such a time line may provoke the development of a scenario. See Scenarios. Scenarios serve many important purposes, both in investigation and adjudication. See generally Fabrication Paper.