When evidence contains hearsay within hearsay, what is required for admissibility?

When evidence contains hearsay within hearsay, what is required for admissibility?

• A. Outer level must be admissible
• B. Each level must fall within an exception
• C. Inner level must be excluded
• D. Hearsay within hearsay is never admissible

Answer: (B)

Hearsay within hearsay is admissible only if every layer of the statement fits an exception or exclusion. The reason is simple: each out-of-court statement must be independently admissible for its own truth to be relied upon in court. If the inner level isn’t covered by a hearsay exception, the outer level cannot be salvaged by its own exception, because the reliability targeted by the rule applies to the inner declaration as well. Under the rule governing multiple layers, each level must satisfy an exception for the overall evidence to be admissible. For example, if a witness testifies that “A said that B witnessed the accident,” and B’s statement about the accident is hearsay, you’d need both B’s statement and A’s report of it to fit hearsay exceptions or exclusions. If B’s statement falls under a specific exception and A’s report of B’s statement also falls under an exception (or is otherwise admissible), the chain can be admitted. If either level lacks an applicable exception, the evidence cannot be admitted. That’s why the correct principle is that each level must fall within an exception.

Hearsay within hearsay is admissible only if every layer of the statement fits an exception or exclusion. The reason is simple: each out-of-court statement must be independently admissible for its own truth to be relied upon in court. If the inner level isn’t covered by a hearsay exception, the outer level cannot be salvaged by its own exception, because the reliability targeted by the rule applies to the inner declaration as well. Under the rule governing multiple layers, each level must satisfy an exception for the overall evidence to be admissible.

For example, if a witness testifies that “A said that B witnessed the accident,” and B’s statement about the accident is hearsay, you’d need both B’s statement and A’s report of it to fit hearsay exceptions or exclusions. If B’s statement falls under a specific exception and A’s report of B’s statement also falls under an exception (or is otherwise admissible), the chain can be admitted. If either level lacks an applicable exception, the evidence cannot be admitted.

That’s why the correct principle is that each level must fall within an exception.