HEARSAY
6-1
6. HEARSAY
Hearsay
ยง600 In General
ยง610 Assertive Versus Non-Assertive Conduct
ยง620 Hearsay Versus Non-Hearsay Purpose
ยง621 Prior Statement by Witness
ยง622 Former Testimony
ยง623 Judicial Findings of Fact
ยง624 Confrontation Clause Issues
ยง624.1 Crawford Holdings
ยง624.2 What Are Testimonial Statements?
ยง624.3 911 Calls
ยง624.4 Autopsies
ยง624.5 Laboratory Reports
ยง624.6 Police Involvement in Psychological and Medical Care
ยง624.7 Taped Telephone Calls
ยง624.8 The Dying Declaration Exception
ยง624.9 Forfeiture By Wrongdoing: Giles v. California
๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ถ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ฑ๎๎๎๎ฒ๎ตต๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ท๎๎๎๎
ยง624.11 Proceedings in Which Crawford Does Not Apply
ยง624.12 Preserving Crawford Challenges to Evidence
ยง624.13 The Basic Crawford Analysis
HEARSAY
(This page intentionally left blank.)
HEARSAY
6-3 HEARSAY ยง610
ยง600 In General
The reason behind the hearsay doctrine is a concern about the reliability of certain evidence: In particular, a con-
cern about the reliability of in-court testimony about out-of-court statements whenever the proponent of that testimony
attempts to use those statements as evidence in the case. Under the common law, hearsay was not allowed because the
๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
๎๎๎๎๎
๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ธ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ฟ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
is subject to cross-examination, any out-of-court statement made by the declarant is unreliable.
Under the federal rules, and under most modern state rules, hearsay has a relatively narrow application. A statement
is hearsay only if:
โข it is made by an out-of-court declarant;
โข it is intended to be a statement (assertive conduct or oral/written assertion);
๎๎ ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ตต๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
The following sections will discuss the modern hearsay rule and its exceptions.
ยง610 Assertive Versus Non-Assertive Conduct
๎ฉ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ต๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎จ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
๎๎๎๎๎ฟ๎๎๎ ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ณ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ด๎๎๎๎๎ ๎ณ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ด๎๎ต๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ ๎๎๎
pertinent part:
๎๎๎๎๎ณ๎ถ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ด๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ถ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
intended it as an assertion.
๎๎
๎๎๎ณ๎ง๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ด๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
Under the Rules, a statement is only hearsay if it is intended to be an assertion. That is, it must be:
โข a purposely oral assertion;
โข a purposely written assertion; or
โข purposeful conduct intended as an assertion.
๎ฉ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ณ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ด๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
๎๎๎๎๎ณ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ด๎
โข a natural person;
โข who makes the statement.
Elements
The following are the foundational elements to determine whether a statement is hearsay (assertive conduct) or
non-hearsay (non-assertive conduct).
Assertive Conduct
๎๎ ๎ท๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ฟ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
๎๎
โ a purposely spoken assertion; or
โ a purposely written assertion; or
โ purposeful conduct
๎๎ ๎ท๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ตต๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
๎ฌ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ฟ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
to the hearsay rule which are enumerated and explained later in this chapter.
Non-Assertive Conduct
Out-of-court words spoken by a declarant will not be a statement and, therefore, will not be hearsay, if the fol-
lowing foundation is laid:
๎๎ ๎ท๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ฟ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎
โ unintentionally utter spoken words;
