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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 497 Filed 11/23/21 Page6of11 Third, testimony that I have excluded or told you to disregard is not evidence and must not be considered. Fourth, anything you may have seen or heard outside the courtroom is not evidence and must be disregarded. You are to decide the case solely on the evidence presented here in the courtroom. Evaluating the Evidence There is no formula to evaluate testimony or exhibits. For now, suffice it to say that you bring with you into this courtroom all of the experience and background of your lives. Do not leave your common sense outside the courtroom. The same types of tests that you use in your everyday dealings are the tests that you should apply in deciding how much weight, if any, to give to the evidence in this case. The law does not require you to accept all of the evidence admitted at trial. In determining what evidence you accept, you must make your own evaluation of the testimony from each of the witnesses and the exhibits that are received in evidence. It is essential, however, that you keep an open mind until you have heard all of the evidence in the case. A case can be presented only step by step, witness by witness, before all evidence is before you. DOJ-OGR-00007458