Evidence Exhibitor

What this is

Evidence Exhibitor builds a witness's Evidence File: drop every piece of evidence (documents, photos, videos, web links) onto one page, and it comes out as a single PDF, a masthead front page with an exhibit index, then each exhibit behind its own cover sheet (exhibit number, description, tramline). Exhibits are numbered from the witness's initials: witness Fatima Salim gives FS-001, FS-002, … Each witness gets their own evidence file.

The Evidence File uploads straight into Bundle Builder or the Appeal Bundle tool and slots into their index: the Appeal Bundle tool splits it into one index entry per exhibit automatically; Bundle Builder lists it as one entry with the exhibits nested in the PDF outline pane. The GMIAU per-PDF feature stack applies (PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL header, optional DRAFT watermark, optional encryption).

Typical workflow

1. Case Details: Import Case Summary to pre-fill identity (refs, parties), or fill it by hand. Tick the document-protection options.
2. Evidence: name the witness (the exhibit prefix derives from their initials; type over it to override). Pick the masthead: Appeal, Application, or None. Then drop PDFs, images and videos onto the dropzone, or paste web links. Each item becomes an exhibit.
3. Re-order (drag), edit descriptions, or attach a screenshot to a link via each row's Edit.
4. Generate Evidence File: one PDF: front page + index, then every exhibit. Upload it to Bundle Builder or the Appeal Bundle tool.
5. Backup the case before you close the tab. For another witness: change the witness name and build the next file.

The tabs

Case Details

Identity for the case: GMIAU / matter references, parties, anonymity, preparer, and the document-protection toggles. Most fields pre-fill from Import Case Summary; they flow into the mastheads and the per-PDF metadata.

Evidence

The one page where everything happens: witness name + exhibit prefix (FS-001 style, auto-derived, editable), the masthead selector (Appeal / Application / None), the dropzone for files, the link row for URLs, the ordered exhibit list, and the Generate Evidence File button. A dropped video opens the Video editor to capture stills; Add to Exhibits there returns here. A dropped WhatsApp chat export (.txt) opens the Instant Messages editor the same way. Individual PDFs exports each exhibit as its own file instead.

Instant Messages

For WhatsApp chats: in WhatsApp use Export Chat → Without Media, then drop the resulting .txt onto the Evidence page. The Instant Messages editor opens with the chat parsed: pick which participant sits on the right-hand side (conventionally the appellant, i.e. the phone's owner), relabel participants if a name needs anonymising, choose the Bubbles or List layout, optionally narrow the date range, then Add to Exhibits. The transcript is rendered as page images, so the original script (Pashto, Dari, Arabic and so on) and emoji come out exactly as they appear on the phone; the trade-off is that the finished exhibit is not text-searchable.

Extract

The reverse of Generate: drop an evidence-file (or bundle) PDF back in and Extract reads its bookmark tree to give you one PDF per exhibit as a ZIP, for un-bundling something a colleague sent, or pulling one exhibit back out.

Backup

Save everything (witness, exhibit list, case identity) as a single gmiau-evidence/3 JSON envelope, and restore it later: older v1/v2 backups restore too. Home to the Clear client data danger-zone action. Run Backup before Clear or Restore, both wipe state.

Config

Caseworker-level preferences that stick across cases and survive a reinstall (they live in the One File config): cover-sheet defaults, PDF body font, preparer defaults, and more.

Settings

App appearance (light / dark / system: GMIAU Light and GMIAU Dark) plus the app font family + size. These sync across every GMIAU tool.

Tips & gotchas

• Exhibit numbers follow list position: drag to re-order and the numbers follow. Start at offsets the whole file (set 11 when FS-001…010 already exist on an earlier file).
• The prefix falls back to the client's initials when no witness is named: set the witness first so the refs come out right.
• Web pages need a manual screenshot. Automated capture is off (login walls, bot checks, privacy). Screenshot the page yourself and attach it via the link row's Edit; otherwise the exhibit shows title + URL + description only.
• DRAFT watermark = working copies only. Switch it off before producing the file you actually serve.
• Evidence lives in browser memory until you Backup: a reload loses anything you haven't backed up.
• The PDF outline mirrors the exhibit list, so a viewer's bookmarks pane is your index: and it's what the Appeal Bundle tool reads to split the file.

Questions

Q. Nothing happens when I click Generate Evidence File.
A. You need at least one exhibit. Drop evidence on the Evidence page first; the status line explains why.

Q. The exhibit prefix is wrong.
A. It derives from the witness name (first initial + surname initial), falling back to the client initials in Case Details. Type directly into the prefix field to override; clear it to go back to auto.

Q. How do I do a second witness?
A. Export the first witness's Evidence File, then change the witness name and add their evidence. If the list should start fresh, remove the previous exhibits (or Backup, then Clear client data).

Q. Can I un-bundle an evidence PDF a colleague sent?
A. Yes: drop it into the Extract tab.

Q. Will my Config and theme follow me to another machine?
A. Theme + font sync across GMIAU tools via browser storage. Config preferences live in the One File config (~/Work/Config/Tools-GMIAU-RB.conf): export it from Config Config file and it travels.

More: the GMIAU Caseworker User Guide in your Obsidian vault; see also Bundle Builder (court bundles) and Filer (outbound case files).: Confidentiality: this tool runs entirely in your browser; nothing is uploaded. The evidence you load, the case references and the client names are confidential, keep the produced files on this machine and send them only through your normal, approved channels.