Home › Mississippi › Rules of Evidence › Rule 805

Court Rules Network • courtrules.net

Miss. R. Evid. 805

Not legal advice. Verify against official sources before relying on this text in any legal matter.

Rule 805 Hearsay Within Hearsay

Article VIII: Hearsay

← Previous Rule 804: Exceptions to the Rule Against Hearsay – When the Declarant Is Unavailable as a Witness Next → Rule 806: Attacking and Supporting the Declarant’s Credibility

Rule Text

Hearsay within hearsay is not excluded by the rule against hearsay if each part of the combined statements conforms with an exception to the rule.

[Restyled effective July 1, 2016.]

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

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

When a statement contains hearsay inside of hearsay, this is often called "double hearsay." For example, someone might testify about what a witness told them, and that witness was repeating what another person said. Normally hearsay cannot be used as evidence, but this rule explains how double hearsay can still be allowed in court.

The key point is that each layer of the statement must fit into its own hearsay exception. It's not enough for just one part of the statement to qualify. If a statement has two or more layers of hearsay, every single layer needs to meet the requirements of some exception to the hearsay rule before a judge will let it in as evidence.

This matters because it affects whether certain testimony can be used in your case. If you or your attorney want to use a statement that includes someone repeating what another person said, you need to show that each part of that chain fits an exception. If even one part fails to qualify, the whole statement may be blocked from being used as evidence.

Committee Notes

Advisory Committee Historical Note

Effective July 1, 2016, the Rule was amended as part of the general restyling of the Evidence Rules.

Effective June 16, 2016, the “Comment” was retitled “Advisory Committee Note.” Advisory Committee Note

The language of Rule 805 has been amended as part of the general restyling of the Evidence Rules to make them more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. These changes are intended to be stylistic only. There is no intent to change any result in any ruling on evidence admissibility.

This rule relates to multiple hearsay. Each hearsay part must qualify under an exception to be admissible.

[“Advisory Committee Note” substituted for “Comment,” effective June 16, 2016; amended July 1, 2016, to note restyling.]

← Previous Rule 804: Exceptions to the Rule Against Hearsay – When the Declarant Is Unavailable as a Witness Next → Rule 806: Attacking and Supporting the Declarant’s Credibility