Also known as: hearsay on hearsay · double hearsay · multiple hearsay
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A composite out-of-court statement containing multiple layers of assertions offered for their truth. Each layer must independently qualify under a hearsay exception or exclusion for the entire statement to be admissible.
Lillian called a research coordinator who recounted that a nurse had told her the principal investigator reported an executive admission about cardiac risks. The executive admission qualified as a party-opponent statement. The nurse statement qualified as an excited utterance made shortly after learning of the death. The principal investigator layer lacked any qualifying exception and caused exclusion of the entire chain.
A plaintiff offered testimony that a branch manager had said another bank official had stated she could not become a manager unless flatchested. The manager layer qualified as a vicarious admission by an agent on a matter within the scope of employment. The inner official layer also qualified as a vicarious admission. The court admitted the combined statement because both layers met the standard.
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Each constituent statement must independently satisfy a hearsay exception or exclusion. Failure of any single layer renders the entire composite inadmissible.
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The principal investigator report to the nurse occurred two days after the event in a routine meeting and fit no exception such as excited utterance or business record. The outer layers qualified but the gap in the chain barred admission.
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Rule 805 itself addresses only whether each layer fits an exception. Personal knowledge is a separate foundational requirement that may still be demanded under Rule 602 or Rule 403 even when an exception applies.
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…rule, it should be. He feels that is mandated by Rules 805 and 403. Rule 805 recites, in effect, that a statement containing hearsay within hearsay is admissible if each part of the statement falls within an exception to the hearsay rule. Rule 805, however, deals only with hearsay exceptions. A statement based on the personal knowledge…