Hearsay-- Spontaneous/Excited/or Contemporaneous Exceptions

Question 1

Four Witness Statements–Mulan and Pocahontas Save Eeyore and Stitch

Answer 1

M–Medical diagnosis
P S –Present Sense Impression
E –Excited Utterance/Contemporaneous
S –State of Mind–Then existing

Question 2

Non hearsay is when an out of court statement is NOT being offered…

effect…
declarant’s…
legally…

Answer 2

Nonhearsay when it is not being offered for the truth of the matter asserted but to show
• Effect on listener or reader (behaved reasonably or unreasonably)
• Declarant’s state of mind (such as knowledge of facts or mental state//insanity)
• Legally significant statement (solicitation, words of defamation, words establishing a contract)

Question 3

Hearsay Issue spotting

Answer 3

Where otherwise hearsay but being admitted because the statement is not being offered for its truth, but rather for the purpose of establishing one of the exception
ALWAYS do prejudicial balancing test–always a danger of unfair prejudice when evidence is admissible for one purpose but not another

Question 4

Multiple Hearsay

Answer 4

Where an out of court statement quotes or paraphrases another out of court statement. Each level of hearsay must fall within an exception

Question 5

Relevance

Answer 5

Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence

Question 6

Relevance balancing test

Answer 6

To be admissible, prejudicial evidence must have probative value which means it must be relevant to the disputed fact.