Hearsay Law, Hearsay Evidence and Drew Peterson Trial

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Statements that Drew Peterson's slain third wife and missing fourth wife allegedly made to family, friends, prosecutors and a pastor could be admitted into evidence in the former Bolingbrook police sergeant's first-degree murder trial after a judge Friday upheld the constitutionality of a new state hearsay law.

Judge Stephen White also denied a motion by defense attorneys to move the trial outside the county, saying he found no reason why Peterson couldn't receive a "fair and impartial trial" in Joliet. White had taken the unusual step of calling in the pool of some 240 potential jurors and ordering them to not view media reports on the highly publicized case.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow called the judge's decision to uphold the hearsay statute a vindication of the "much-maligned" law Glasgow himself had pushed for.

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Drew Peterson trial: Hearsay law upheld -- chicagotribune.com

Hearsay in United States Law

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hearsay is the legal term that describes statements made outside of court or other judicial proceedings. Unless one of about thirty exceptions applies, hearsay is not allowed as evidence in the United States. The Hearsay Rule is an analytic rule of evidence that defines hearsay and provides for both exceptions and exemptions from that rule. There is no all-encompassing definition of hearsay in the United States. However, most evidentiary codes defining hearsay adopt verbatim the rule as laid out in the Federal Rules of Evidence, which generally defines hearsay as a "statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." Historically, the rule against hearsay is aimed at prohibiting the use of a person's assertion, as equivalent to testimony to the fact asserted, unless the assertor is brought to testify in court where he may be placed under oath and cross-examined.

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Hearsay in United States law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Hearsay" Evidence

by FindLaw.com

There are twenty-four exceptions in the federal rules that do not require proof that the person who made the statement is unavailable. These are:

1. Business records, including those of a public agency
2. Certain public records and reports
3. Evidence of a judgment of conviction for certain purposes
4. Evidence of the absence of a business record or entry
5. Excited utterances or spontaneous statements
6. Family records concerning family history
7. Judgments of a court concerning personal history, family history, general history, or boundaries, where those matters were essential to the judgment
8. Learned treatises used to question an expert witness
9. Market reports, commercial publications, and the like
10. Marriage, baptismal, and similar certificates
11. Past recollections recorded
12. Recorded documents purporting to affect interests in land
13. Records of religious organizations concerning personal or family history
14. Records of vital statistics
15. Reputation concerning boundaries or general history
16. Reputation concerning family history
17. Reputation of a person's character
18. Statements about the declarant's present sense impressions
19. Statements about the declarant's then existing mental, emotional, or physical condition
20. Statements in authentic ancient documents (at least 20 years old)
21. Statements in other documents purporting to affect interests in land and relevant to the purpose of the document
22. Statements made by the declarant for the purpose of medical diagnosis or treatment
23. Statements of the absence of a public record or entry
24. The "catchall" rule

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http://criminal.findlaw.com/crimes/m...-evidence.html