In Handel v. New York Rapid Transit Corp. (1937), Handel died as a result of an accident where the conductor of a train closed the door on his body. Right after the accident, the decedent said: “Save me. Help me—why did that conductor close the door on me.” At issue in the case was whether the decedent’s declaration implicating the defendant of negligence was admissible as part of res gestae; if so, that would establish a prima facie cause of action. The New York appellate court, however, held that the decedent’s statement, which was made after the accident but related to the accident, was not res gestae, so it was inadmissible hearsay. Instead, the court characterized the statement as merely a statement relating to a past event.
res gestae
Definition
[Latin: “things done” or “thing transacted”] The events or circumstances at issue, as well as other events that are contemporaneous with or related to them. Courts previously employed this term in order to admit otherwise inadmissible hearsay. The term has since been put to disuse by scholars and legislators. In evidence law, for example, the Federal Rules of Evidence, Rules 803(1)[“present sense impression”], 803(2)[“excited utterance”], 803(3)[“declaration of existing physical condition”], and 803(4)[“declaration of past physical condition”] now specifically encompass and limit what was previously used as res gestae.
Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary
(rayz-jest-eye) All circumstances surrounding and connected with a happening. Thus, the res gestae of a crime includes the immediate area and all occurrences and statements immediately before and after the crime.
Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.
August 19, 2010, 5:23 pm
“The res gestae embraces not only the actual facts of the transaction and the circumstances surrounding it, but the matters immediately antecedent to and having a direct causal connection with it, as well as acts immediately following it and so closely connected with it as to form in reality a part of the occurrence.” J. McKnight, State v. Fouquette, 221 P.2d 404, 416-417 (Nev. 1950).
