NCJ Number
98492
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 74 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1983) Pages: 1446-1470
Date Published
1983
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This paper proposes two tests to aid Federal judges in determining whether an unavailable witness' grand jury testimony is sufficiently reliable to admit under Rule 804(b)(5) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which allows Federal judges to admit reliable nonexcepted hearsay as substantive evidence from unavailable hearsay declarants.
Abstract
The proposal's procedural test requires that the grand jury testimony conform to trial evidentiary rules. The proposal's corroborative test requires that there be sufficient independent evidence to support the truth of the grand jury testimony. The grand jury testimony must pass both tests before the judge can admit the testimony into evidence under 804(b)(5). It is argued that the procedural and corroborative tests would resolve the disagreement among the Federal courts about whether to admit grand jury testimony into trial under 804(b)(5). Moreover, the two tests are said to ensure that all grand jury testimony admitted under 804(b)(5) satisfies the U.S. Supreme Court's sixth amendment confrontation clause standards. Finally, the paper concludes that the procedural and corroborative tests would be easy to implement and are consistent with the legislative intent of Rule 804(b)(5). A total of 129 footnotes are provided.