§ 2802 Hearsay rule.

Hearsay is when someone testifies in court about a statement made outside of court, and that statement is being used to prove something is true. This kind of testimony usually is not allowed as evidence in Oklahoma courts.

The reason for this rule is fairness. If a witness just repeats what someone else said, the other side cannot question that original person to check if they were telling the truth or got the facts right. Courts want people to testify based on what they saw or heard directly, not on secondhand information.

There are exceptions to this rule. Oklahoma lawmakers have passed other laws that allow certain kinds of hearsay to be used in court under specific conditions. So while hearsay is generally blocked, it is not always blocked. Whether a particular statement can be used often depends on other rules that create these exceptions.