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Showing posts from July, 2016

Some Basics on Hearsay

You've heard the word "hearsay" right? People say, "But that's just hearsay." What does that even mean? I hear it in casual conversation, and I want to tell the person, "That's not what hearsay means." I'm a lawyer, I can't help it! The most common definition  of hearsay is this confusing mouthful: "A statement made out of court that is offered in court as evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." Having gone to a top law school, where most (or maybe all) of the professors never actually practiced law, I can tell you we spent way too much time on hearsay in evidence class. Like 3 weeks. Yet in actual practice arguments about hearsay come up about once every couple of years. Hearsay boils down to reliability: did the person actually say that thing they are alleged to have said?If something is hearsay, it's not admissible as evidence unless an exception applies. And there are many exceptions. One excepti...