OCLRE Rules Of Evidence Practice Test

Forfeiture by wrongdoing is the rule that allows a party to admit hearsay if they intentionally caused the declarant to be unavailable to testify. The idea is fairness: if one party used wrongful acts to silence a witness, they cannot then exclude the witness’s earlier statements as hearsay. So, when the declarant is unavailable because of the party’s wrongdoing and the statements are offered against that party, those statements can be admitted even though they would normally be excluded. This doesn’t apply to dying declarations, which come under a different rule for statements made when the declarant believes death is imminent. It also isn’t about hearsay within hearsay as a general concept, or about self-authenticating documents, which are governed by other rules. The key point is the intentional wrongdoing that caused the declarant’s unavailability and the resulting ability to admit the prior statements.