Pompano Beach, FL asked in Criminal Law and Appeals / Appellate Law for Florida

Q: If a witness has decided not to testify in court, IS IT HEARSAY if someone mentions in court what that witness said?

2 Lawyer Answers

A: Testimonial statements by witnesses who are not subject to cross- examination at trial may not be admitted unless the witness is unavailable and there has been a prior opportunity for cross-examination. Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision that reformulated the standard for determining when the admission of hearsay statements in criminal cases is permitted under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment.

Terrence H Thorgaard , Jeffrey H. Garland and Tim Akpinar agree with this answer

A: Although there are a few limited exceptions to the hearsay rule, that is generally correct.

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