Section 16.1 Hearsay Generally

• Library: Evidence 2017

A. (§16.1) Hearsay Generally

Before addressing the “exceptions” to hearsay, it is important to understand the definition codified in the federal rules and adopted in the Missouri cases. Hearsay is a “statement” that “(1) the declarant does not make while testifying at the current trial or hearing; and (2) a party offers in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the statement.” Fed. R. Evid. 801(c). Missouri has no codified definition of hearsay, but the cases note that “[h]earsay is defined as ‘any out-of-court statement that is used to prove the truth of the matter asserted and that depends on the veracity of the statement for its value.’” State v. Reynolds, 456 S.W.3d 101, 104 (Mo. App. W.D. 2015) (quoting State v. Sutherland, 939 S.W.2d 373, 376 (Mo. banc 1997)).

The definition requires that there be a declarant. If the evidence being offered at trial does not have a declarant, it is not hearsay. A person is required before a statement can be labeled “hearsay.” Machines, for example, do not make hearsay statements. SeeCity of Webster Groves v. Quick, 323 S.W.2d 386, 390 (Mo. App. E.D. 1959) (testimony of a machine reading is not hearsay); Reynolds, 456...