Does Hearsay Count As Evidence Or Gossip?

Talk is cheap, even when it is big business. These days, it seems like everyone aspires to make a living by running their mouth on social media, giving their reactions to other people’s reactions to videos depicting events that, in the grand scheme of things, are inconsequential. It is to everyone’s benefit that these videos, by themselves, are rarely enough to persuade a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant in a criminal case is guilty. It stands to reason, then, that if there is no video or audio recording, and a witness is simply reporting on something that someone else said months ago or years ago, then this counts for little or nothing. The general trend is for the criminal courts to reject hearsay evidence as inadmissible, but there are some situations where the court may allow witnesses to present it to the jury. If the prosecution in your case wants to use hearsay evidence against you, or if there is hearsay evidence that might establish reasonable doubt about your guilt, contact a West Palm Beach criminal defense lawyer.

Hearsay Evidence in Florida Criminal Cases

The term hearsay evidence refers to statements that a witness makes about something that someone else said. The courts generally consider it an unconvincing, unfair, or irrelevant form of evidence. Whenever possible, the courts prefer the jury to hear what the original speaker said by summoning the original speaker personally to testify or by presenting recordings of the original speaker speaking; in cases where the original speaker has since died or is too ill to attend the trial, recordings and depositions are the only options.

In some cases, though, the content of the hearsay evidence is so important, and the other feasible ways of presenting it carry so many risks, that letting a witness testify about what someone else said is the least bad option. For example, when the defendant is accused of committing a violent crime or a sexual offense against a minor, the court usually does not ask the minor to testify. Testifying in court would cause unnecessary stress for a child, and there is too much risk that adults in the child’s life would pressure him or her to change his or her story, or else that the child would simply be too nervous to provide clear testimony. Therefore, an adult in whom the child confided about the alleged assault may testify about what the child said, even though, in other circumstances, this would count as hearsay. Likewise, with child patients as well as adult patients, a physician who treated the patient may testify about what the patient said when the doctor was interviewing the patient about his or her medical history.

Contact a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer Today

Attorney William Wallshein has more than 41 years of experience, including five years as a prosecutor in Palm Beach County.  Contact William Wallshein P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0090/Sections/0090.803.html