Hearsay in United States law


Hearsay is a legal term that describes a class of evidence generally disallowed by most courts 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. The "Hearsay Rule" is as varied as the jurisdictions that define it. That is to say, 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 [1] Rule 801, 28 U.S.C. App. See Rule for Courts-Martial 801, Manual for Court Martial, United States (2005 ed.). 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 on the stand where he may be placed under oath and cross-examined.