Declaration against interest
Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, a declaration against interest is defined as a statement made by a declarant who is unavailable that is against the declarant’s pecuniary, proprietary, or penal interest when it was made. A statement against interest is admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule. However, for a statement against penal interest to be admissible in a criminal case, it must be supported by corroborative evidence.
Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary
When a nonparty witness in a lawsuit is not available to testify, a statement made by the witness that is against his or her own interest may be admitted in court as evidence as an exception to the hearsray rule. Compare: admission
Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.
August 19, 2010, 5:14 pm
