Hearsay is generally not allowed in court, but there are many exceptions. This article looks at two of those exceptions: “excited expressions” and “death statements.”
Definition of “heard”
The legal definition of rumors is simple. It is an extrajudicial statement, made by someone who is not a party, used or attempted to be used in court to prove the truth of what was said. A simple example of that might be: Jane comments to a friend one day that “that guy must be over six feet tall!” Bob heard her comment and later, while trying to prove that Joe is over six feet, he testifies that “Jane said she must be over six feet.” That will be hearsay and will not normally be allowed into evidence.
Exceptions to the rumor rule
There are many exceptions to the rumor rule. As a general rule, since what makes rumors objectionable is that you forfeit the right to “face your accuser” and test the accuracy of the comments, the exceptions tend to be situations that negate the timing or reason for the rumors. witness (absent) to lie. .
excited expressions
An excited expression is just what you might think: a statement (an exclamation!) made is some kind of surprise or emotion. Consider the example above, where Jane comments on Joe’s height. If Joe is only five years old, there are situations where Jane’s comment could be very moving and could be allowed as an exception to the rumor rule.
An example of a debt law case
Remember that a statement by a party to the lawsuit is not hearsay (by definition). But what if you’re suing a debt collection company over a statement made by one of their employees (whom you’re not suing)? Could this be an exception to the rumor rule? Yes, and one way would be if he was “excited”. Let’s say the guy is yelling at you and says, “I know you already paid, but since you can’t prove it, you’re going to pay us again!” That would be direct evidence of an unfair debt collection practice, and should be presented as an “excited expression.”
declaration of death
Now imagine that this same debt collector is hit by a car shortly after harassing you (but not admitting that he knew he had already paid). He is mortally wounded and, just before he dies, he tries to ease his conscience by admitting (to a passerby) that he’s sorry he harassed you when he knew you had already paid the debt. This would be a “dying statement”.
Sometimes the courts require a fairly high level of awareness of impending death before allowing the statement to be entered into evidence. The purpose is to negate any motivation the declarant (speaker) may have for lying. Supposedly, people never go to bed on their deathbed!
In a context of debt law
In practice, a dying plea is highly unlikely to make it into a debt law case, but an excited plea might. Suppose a debt collector was harassing a friend who angrily told him that “you said you’d never pay the bill even though you owed it because you hate that guy.”
It may be a good idea not to talk about your debts and debt collectors.
