Also known as: indicia of reliability
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
3 senses
Sufficient markers of trustworthiness in an anonymous tip that permit officers to rely on it for reasonable suspicion supporting a Terry stop. Accurate predictions of the suspect's future movements or conduct supply the key indicator because they suggest the tipster possesses inside knowledge of criminal activity.
Circumstances demonstrating the trustworthiness of an out-of-court statement that formerly allowed its admission against a criminal defendant without live cross-examination under the pre-Crawford framework. The statement had to either fall within a firmly rooted hearsay exception or carry particularized guarantees of trustworthiness.
Sufficient indicators that an expert's methodology is trustworthy to permit admission of opinion testimony. Courts conduct a flexible case-specific inquiry into factors such as testing, peer review, error rates, and general acceptance.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Sufficient markers of trustworthiness in an anonymous tip that permit officers to rely on it for reasonable suspicion supporting a Terry stop. Accurate predictions of the suspect's future movements or conduct supply the key indicator because they suggest the tipster possesses inside knowledge of criminal activity.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Deputies received an anonymous call stating that Andre Antoine would load unregistered pesticide containers into a marked farm truck at dawn, drive south on County Road 12, and meet a blue pickup at Miller Crossroads. Officers observed Antoine follow that exact sequence. The corroborated predictions supplied adequate indicia of reliability, giving the deputies reasonable suspicion to stop the truck.
An anonymous caller told officers that Adam Anderson, wearing a white linen shirt and standing by the hotel fountain with two rolling suitcases, was transporting illegal firearms. Officers confirmed only the visible description and location, then immediately frisked Anderson and searched the suitcases. The tip lacked predictive information or other markers of inside knowledge, so it did not furnish adequate indicia of reliability and the resulting evidence was suppressed.
Officers stopped Ariana Azizi's vehicle solely on an anonymous tip that described her appearance and current location but contained no predictive details. The stop led to discovery of contraband. Because the tip supplied no adequate indicia of reliability, the initial seizure was unlawful and the evidence was suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree.
An anonymous tip carries adequate indicia of reliability when it accurately predicts the suspect's future movements or conduct that officers later observe. Such predictions suggest the tipster has inside knowledge of criminal activity rather than merely reporting innocent, observable facts.
Supporting sources
A tip that merely describes a person's visible attributes and current location provides no basis to infer the caller possesses knowledge of hidden criminal conduct. Officers who corroborate only those innocent details still lack reasonable suspicion because the tip lacks predictive information or other markers of trustworthiness.
Circumstances demonstrating the trustworthiness of an out-of-court statement that formerly allowed its admission against a criminal defendant without live cross-examination under the pre-Crawford framework. The statement had to either fall within a firmly rooted hearsay exception or carry particularized guarantees of trustworthiness.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Prosecutors sought to introduce a recorded statement made by an unavailable witness describing the defendant's role in a crime. The statement was made during a police interrogation and was offered to prove the truth of the matters asserted. Because the statement was testimonial and the defendant had no prior opportunity for cross-examination, the court held it lacked the adequate indicia of reliability required under the old framework and excluded it.
The Supreme Court replaced the Roberts framework, which admitted testimonial hearsay if it fell within a firmly rooted exception or bore particularized guarantees of trustworthiness, with a categorical rule requiring confrontation for testimonial statements unless the declarant is unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity for cross-examination.
Supporting sources
Sufficient indicators that an expert's methodology is trustworthy to permit admission of opinion testimony. Courts conduct a flexible case-specific inquiry into factors such as testing, peer review, error rates, and general acceptance.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Alliance Holdings offered a computer scientist to testify that its algorithm did not infringe a competitor's patent. The expert relied on a self-developed benchmarking script never subjected to peer review or external testing. The court applied a flexible, case-specific inquiry and found the absence of traditional validation markers deprived the testimony of adequate indicia of reliability, leading to exclusion.
A plaintiff offered expert testimony that a medication caused birth defects based on reanalysis of existing studies never subjected to peer review or error-rate analysis. The court examined whether the methodology possessed adequate indicia of reliability under a flexible, case-specific standard. Finding the analytical gap between the data and the conclusion too great, the court excluded the testimony.
Courts apply a flexible, case-specific inquiry that may consider the traditional Daubert factors or any other appropriate markers of reliability. For technical or specialized knowledge, the absence of peer review, testing, or known error rates can demonstrate that the testimony lacks adequate indicia of reliability.
Supporting sources
…Clause does not bar the admission of an unavailable witness’s statement against a criminal defendant if the statement bears “adequate indicia of reliability.” To meet that test, evidence must either fall within a “firmly rooted hearsay exception” or bear “particularized guarantees of trustworthiness.” We concluded that the hearsay exception for…
…the degree to which he can tailor his testimony to serve a party's interests. Then, too, independent research carries its own indicia of reliability
…admissibility of a co-conspirator’s hearsay statement under an independent standard of proof that the statement was made. The “indicia of reliability
…There is only Mr. Connelly's confession. Minimum standards of due process should require that the trial court find substantial indicia of reliability
…be credited only when it is reliable. Johnson, supra , 97 N.J. at 93, 477 A.2d 1246. In this case there were no such mandatory indicia of reliability
Supporting sources