Understanding the Hearsay Problem

In court, for evidence to be persuasive and admissible, it must come from a person with direct, personal knowledge of the matter. Let’s consider a few examples to illustrate this principle.

Example 1:

“Mr. Smith is an abusive alcoholic.” Question: “How do you know this?” Answer: “His wife told me.”

This is classic hearsay. You are not offering information based on what you personally witnessed or experienced. Instead, you are repeating what someone else told you.

Because of this, your testimony is likely to face a hearsay objection and may be excluded from the court record.

Example 2:

“Mr. Smith is an abusive alcoholic.” Question: “How do you know this?” Answer: “I saw him physically assault his wife at my dinner party last week.”

This statement is based on direct observation. Since it is your personal knowledge, it is generally admissible and much more persuasive to the court. This is the type of evidence that can carry significant weight.

For any accusation or allegation, think carefully about the source of your knowledge. If it is second hand—meaning it came from someone else—it may be considered hearsay and excluded.

Further Example:

“Mr. Smith has PTSD.” Question: “How do you know this?” Answer: “I read it in a letter from his therapist.”

Again, this would likely be ruled as hearsay. The statement about Mr. Smith’s diagnosis originates from a third party—the therapist—not from your own knowledge. Even though the source may seem credible, unless that person is in court to testify, the information may not be admissible.

To admit such evidence into the court record, you would generally need to subpoena the therapist to testify about the diagnosis and the contents of the letter directly. The same applies to other sources, such as spouses, employers, or police officers. If they are the original source of the information, they need to be present to testify to it.

Always consider the source of the information you intend to present in court. Ask yourself: “Do I know this from personal experience, or did someone tell me?” If it’s the latter, you may need to bring that original person into court to provide their testimony.

This is especially critical when dealing with sensitive issues such as abuse allegations, medical conditions, or criminal behavior.

In the first two examples, you would have wanted to subpoena the wife and the therapist to be in court.