Evidence guide
Association is not wrongdoing
Why a name, address-book entry, trip, photograph or co-occurrence must be kept separate from a claim of criminal conduct.
Key takeaway
A relationship record answers who or what appears together. A wrongdoing claim answers a different question and requires separate evidence.
The association firewall
TRP treats neutral relationships—such as mentioned with, contact entry, travel record, employment record or financial-record party—as their own category.
Those relationships should not silently transform into claims that someone facilitated, knew about or participated in wrongdoing.
Why the distinction matters
Large archives naturally contain famous names, staff, lawyers, service providers, witnesses, victims, investigators, acquaintances and people whose relevance may be minimal or unclear.
A public archive becomes misleading if search prominence or repeated co-occurrence is treated as evidentiary weight.
What changes the evidence state
A stronger proposition requires a source that supports the stronger proposition: testimony, documentary evidence tied to conduct, an admission, a judicial finding or another competent evidentiary basis.
Even then, TRP describes the scope of what was asserted or found rather than extending it beyond the source.