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"Hearsay is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." [1] Per Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(a), a statement made by a defendant is admissible as evidence only if it is inculpatory; exculpatory statements made to an investigator are hearsay and therefore may not be admitted as ...
The rule excluding hearsay arises from a concern regarding the statement's reliability. Courts have four principal concerns with the reliability of witness statements: the witness may be lying (sincerity risk), the witness may have misunderstood the situation (narration risk), the witness's memory may be wrong (memory risk), and the witness's perception was inaccurate (perception risk). [8]
A prior consistent statement is not a hearsay exception; the FRE specifically define it as non-hearsay. A prior consistent statement is admissible: to rebut an express or implied charge that the declarant recently fabricated a statement, for instance, during her testimony at trial; the witness testifies at the present trial; and
Generally, witnesses are perceived as more credible when they are perceived as more accurate and less suggestible. [15] [16] At common law, the term could be used in relation to the giving of testimony, or for the witnessing of documents. [17] In modern English law, a credible witness is one who is not "speaking from hearsay."
Generally speaking, hearsay is not admissible in a court hearing or trial, unless it meets certain criteria, which can change from state to state. For example, in the 1997 Illinois case People vs Holloway , the defendant took the case to appeal on the basis that one of the witnesses to appear at the trial was a hearsay witness: the witness was ...
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 defines hearsay as statements "not made in oral evidence in the proceedings" being used "as evidence of any matter stated". [17] If the statements are being used for purposes other than serving "as evidence of any matter stated", they are not covered by the definition of hearsay in the 2003 Act. [18]
The party admission, in the law of evidence, is a type of statement that appears to be hearsay (an out of court statement) but is generally exempted (excluded) from the definition of hearsay because it was made by a party to the litigation adverse to the party introducing it into evidence.
When submitted as evidence, such statements are called hearsay evidence. As a legal term, "hearsay" can also have the narrower meaning of the use of such information as evidence to prove the truth of what is asserted. Such use of "hearsay evidence" in court is generally not allowed. This prohibition is called the hearsay rule.