Also known as: multiple-level hearsay · multiple levels hearsay · multiple levels of hearsay · hearsay within hearsay · double hearsay
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A compound statement containing multiple layers of out-of-court assertions offered for their truth. Each layer must independently qualify as nonhearsay or fit a hearsay exception or exclusion for the combined statement to be admissible.
Meredith Maxwell sued Marathon Logistics after her yacht was damaged in a storm. A dockhand testified that the harbor master told him a barge captain reported a tug operator saying the company dispatcher admitted ordering the tug out despite a severe storm warning. The court admitted the testimony only after confirming each layer of the chain satisfied an applicable exception or exclusion.
Michael Miller sued Wild Canid Survival and Research Center after a wolf escaped and injured him. A staff member testified that a supervisor relayed an internal report in which a researcher recounted an executive's statement acknowledging prior escape risks. The court examined each successive statement in the chain to determine whether it qualified independently under an exception or exclusion.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The combined statement is admissible only when every layer of the nested out-of-court assertions independently qualifies as nonhearsay or fits a hearsay exception or exclusion.
Supporting sources
No. Each layer must satisfy its own exception or exclusion on its own terms. Failure of any single layer renders the whole inadmissible for its truth.
Supporting sources
The court isolates each out-of-court assertion in the chain and requires the proponent to establish a separate basis for admissibility for every link before the composite statement reaches the jury.
Supporting sources
The entire statement is excluded. The rule requires independent qualification at every level and does not permit an inner exception to cure a deficient outer transmission.
Supporting sources
…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…