Is Hearsay Evidence Admissible in Criminal Court?
You know the old saying about how you should believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. Think about all the terrible things people say about each other all day long. Someone does a silly dance, and someone else films it and posts it on YouTube, and soon everyone in the world is weighing in with their uncharitable speculations about both the dancer and the poster. Fortunately, the histrionics of the court of public opinion are not enough to secure a criminal conviction. Instead, every time the prosecution summons a witness, the defense lawyers also have a chance to question the witness to show the jury why his or her testimony leaves room for doubt about the defendant’s guilt, and at the end of the trial, the defense may use its closing arguments to point out overall weaknesses in the prosecution’s case. Here, our Miami criminal defense lawyer explains the limited circumstances where the criminal courts may allow the prosecution or defense to present hearsay evidence at trial.
It Takes More Than Gossip to Persuade a Jury Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Before either party presents evidence to a jury at a criminal trial, they must disclose this evidence to the other party. This way, the other party has a chance to formulate questions to ask during cross examination and to think of arguments that may lead the jury to find this evidence less credible or less indicative of the point that the party that presented the evidence is trying to prove. Each party also has the right to object to the evidence before or during the trial, and the court must decide whether the evidence is admissible. For example, evidence may be inadmissible if it is irrelevant and is only there to distract the jury or if the prosecution obtained the evidence in violation of the defendant’s rights, such as if the prosecution violated the Fifth Amendment by questioning the defendant, and obtaining a confession which it is attempting to present as evidence, without first reciting the Miranda warnings to the defendant.
Hearsay evidence, where a witness claims to have heard someone else say something, is generally not admissible in criminal cases. First, it is almost impossible to verify whether the person said what the witness claims. Second, it is often irrelevant or prejudicial. By contrast, if the person that the witness is quoting is alive, the prosecution and defense should question him or her directly. In the days of audiovisual recording, it is also sometimes possible to provide more compelling evidence of the person saying what the witness heard. Hearsay evidence is often more distracting than informative.
Statements by Children Who Are Too Young to Testify in Court
In certain circumstances, hearsay evidence can be admissible. These conditions occur when the overheard statements are important to the case and there is no other feasible or ethical way to convey them to the jury other than to let a witness who heard them repeat them from the witness stand.
One such example is when an adult witness tells the jury what a child who physically witnessed the crime told him or her. This is because the courts make every effort to protect children from the stress of testifying in court, especially about violence that they had witnessed. Likewise, children may be evasive or inconsistent on the witness stand, even if they told a clear account of the crime to a family member, teacher, or other trusted adult. For example, if a six-year-old told his grandmother that, during a family argument, he heard his father threaten to shoot his uncle, the grandmother’s testimony may suffice. In the 1990s, the court wrongfully convicted Michael Morton of murdering his wife in Texas, in part because the court excluded hearsay evidence about statements made by Morton’s son Eric, who was three years old at the time of the crime. Eric told his grandmother that, on the morning of the crime, he saw a monster in the shower. After an appeal, the court allowed this evidence, and the appeals court overturned the conviction, but only after Eric had lived his entire childhood under the false belief that his father had killed his mother. Likewise, the court allows hearsay evidence from people to whom minors have confided that they were targets of sexual abuse.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you defend yourself by including exculpatory evidence and by excluding unfair evidence. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Source:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0090/Sections/0090.803.html
