Tonight! Why Hearsay Rule Is Important! 3PM PDT 6PM EDT

Thursdays LIVE! Click in to the WEST COAST Neil Garfield Show

with Charles Marshall and Bill Paatalo

Or call in at (347) 850-1260, 6pm Eastern Thursdays

BECAUSE I SAID SO! CASE CLOSED?

The whole point of the hearsay rule is to prevent the jury or judge from relying on untested evidence. Any statement made out of court is not admissible in evidence unless the person is available for cross examination. “statements” include any statement that is oral (i.e., said out loud) or in writing.

But it is ONLY excluded if there is a timely objection. And even then it’s only excluded if it is not a qualified exception to the hearsay rule. What an exception — business records. The banks have used this exception to open a door and drive a tractor trailer through it.

Charles Marshall will discuss the Hearsay Rule by referencing the details of Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) 801, which defines Hearsay as the term applies to legal proceedings in Federal Court. The evidence rules of the various States all largely mirror these Federal Rules. Then he will breakdown some of the exceptions to FRE 801, with particular emphasis on the business records exception, at FRE 803(6), and records of documents that affect an interest in property, at FRE 803(14).

Next Bill Paatalo will discuss how lenders and other institutional mortgage players are using data from “bid-tapes” to get around the Hearsay rule, in that they claim the reproduced copies of ‘original’ notes are in essence the original notes themselves.

One Response

  1. Good topic. Question — if claimed records are in possession, but they came from another source, does the hearsay rule apply?

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