What is ‘hearsay evidence’?

I’m Herb Friedman of Friedman Law Offices in Lincoln, Nebraska. Many clients ask me, “Just what is this thing called hearsay evidence?” hearsay evidence is nothing more than second hand evidence that the Courts do not consider useful in a Courtroom.

Here is an easy example. Let’s say you hear a person other than a party make a comment about the case. Joe says, “I saw Mr. Defendant run a stop sign and run into the Plaintiff.” Joe can come to the Courtroom and testify about what he saw, but you as a witness cannot testify that this is what Joe said to prove that point. The idea, which dates back hundreds of years, is to ensure that evidence used in a Court of law is truthful and useful. Confused? There are probably twenty exceptions to the here-say rule and whole text books have been written about the subject.

Basically, however, Courts want to ensure that the evidence is direct from people who know what they are talking about. Here-say evidence is not very reliable and that is why Courts do not permit it to be used. 3. If you have any questions, please call Friedman Law Offices at 800-876-1093. There is never a charge to find out if we can help you (find out if you have a case). Feel free to leave a comment here on our blog, and use the share button if you know someone who might benefit from this information. Thanks for logging in.