Chapter 3 - §18. Exception—Contemporaneous statement

• Jurisdiction: United States

§18. Exception—Contemporaneous statement

A declarant's contemporaneous statement is admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule. Evid. C. §1241.

§18.1. Overview. A contemporaneous declaration is a statement that a declarant made while engaged in some conduct and that is offered in court to explain the conduct or make it understandable. See 7 Cal. Law Revision Comm'n Rep. (1965) p. 1233. There is no requirement that the declarant be unavailable as a witness for this exception to apply. See Evid. C. §1241. In older opinions, such declarations were often termed "verbal acts." See 1 Witkin, California Evidence (5th ed.), Hearsay §184. Interestingly, very few modern California criminal cases discuss this exception. See, e.g., People v. Lazanis (2d Dist.1989) 209 Cal.App.3d 49, 58 (concluding without discussion that police radio call about car apparently fleeing scene of burglary was...