Mar. 26, 2004

'Crawford' Effectively Muffles Victims' Deathbed Declarations

Forum Column - By Scott Wm. Davenport - It is well-known in legal circles that exceptions to the hearsay rule have continued to expand until they have gobbled up the rule. Historically, all hearsay testimony was excluded because it was not considered to be reliable. The myriad of exceptions which sprang forth in common law, however, all tend to be grounded in the notion that some external force rendered the statements to be inherently reliable and, therefore, the statements should not be excluded.