Thank you to the many colleagues and friends who have reached out with kind words and encouragement. For those who may not have heard, I recently joined the Martine Law Firm as Of Counsel and Director of Mentorship and Education. Martine is a dynamic, nine-attorney law firm with offices in Minnesota and North Carolina. Known for its rapid growth and strong courtroom presence, the firm focuses exclusively on Criminal Defense and Family Law.
Going forward, the Martine Law Training Updates will concentrate on core litigation areas including Criminal and Family Law, the Rules of Evidence and Procedure, and Trial Advocacy. Over the past year, the subscriber list has grown to nearly 3,500 attorneys, judges, and legal professionals. Because Martine Law is deeply committed to the principle that legal education is the soul of the judiciary, these updates will continue to be shared publicly as a resource to the bench and bar.
QUESTION: As a trial attorney, how can you determine whether an out-of-court statement is hearsay or non-hearsay?
ANSWER: If you have ever read “Alice in Wonderland,” you would be wise to follow the King’s advice to the white rabbit and always “begin at the beginning.” In other words, when dealing with the admissibility of an out-of-court statement, instead of assuming the statement is hearsay and skipping directly to the hearsay exceptions (which is what most of us do), it is always best to take a step back, go to the beginning and ask the threshold question: is this out-of-court statement really hearsay? The answer is not always clear. On closer examination, many statements that initially appear to be hearsay actually are not.
As a trial attorney, to make that determination, all you need to do is apply the following FOOL-PROOF HEARSAY TEST. This is a simple three-step test you can apply to any out-of-court statement.
To learn how to apply the Foolproof Hearsay Test, read the attached Martine Law Training Update.
For a print-ready copy of training update 25-2, click here.
NOTE: You can also read this training update on the Minnesota Judicial Training and Education Website. Once on the website, you can add your email and receive notifications whenever a new update is posted. Please distribute these training updates to anyone you believe could benefit from them.
MINNESOTA JUDICIAL TRAINING & EDUCATION BLOG 