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Rule 602 Lack of personal knowledge.

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Rule Text

A witness may not testify to a matter unless evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter. Evidence to prove personal knowledge may, but need not, consist of the witness’s own testimony. This rule is subject to the provisions of Rule 703, relating to opinion testimony by expert witnesses.

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

If someone testifies in court, they have to actually know what they're talking about from their own experience. This means they saw it, heard it, or experienced it firsthand. A witness can't just guess, repeat rumors, or share secondhand information as if it were fact.

Before a witness can talk about something, there needs to be enough proof that they really do have firsthand knowledge of it. The witness can explain how they know what they know, but that's not the only way to show this. Other evidence in the case can also help prove the witness has real knowledge of the situation.

There's one exception to this rule. Expert witnesses, like doctors or engineers, are allowed to give opinions based on their training and expertise, even if they didn't personally witness the events in the case. This is covered separately under Rule 703, which lets experts rely on their professional knowledge instead of firsthand experience.

Committee Notes

Advisory Committee’s Notes

This rule, unchanged from Fed.R.Evid. 602, embodies the traditional firsthandknowledge requirement under which a witness is precluded from testifying to a matter about which the witness lacks a firsthand or personal knowledge of the facts. Before a witness may testify regarding a matter, a foundation must be established to indicate that the witness was in a position to observe and did observe those facts with which the testimony is concerned. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Humphres, 293 Ala. 413, 304 So.2d 573 (1974); Gullatt v. State, 409 So.2d 466 (Ala.Crim.App.1981).

The phrase “sufficient to support a finding” is in no way intended to embrace a threshold standard different from that applied at common law for determining whether a witness possesses personal knowledge. Such a threshold standard will often be met via the witness’s own testimony reflecting what the witness thinks he or she knows from personal perception. Fed.R.Evid. 602 advisory committee’s note. See C. Gamble, McElroy’s Alabama Evidence § 105.01 (4th ed. 1991).

Nothing in Rule 602 prevents a witness, if authorized under Rule 801 et seq., from relating a hearsay statement. Rule 602 merely ensures that the witness relating it will have a firsthand knowledge of the making of the statement.

← Previous Rule 601: General rule of competency. Next → Rule 603: Oath or affirmation.

Cross-References

References (1)

Ala. R. Evid. Rule 703

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Last updated: September 2026

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