Statements used for non-hearsay purposes

Q14763 / key C

Non-Hearsay Purpose: Notice Is Not Truth

selected 33040203 / source 33040203

Q14772 / key C

Non-Hearsay Purpose: Identity from a Name

selected 33040203 / source 33040203

Q14778 / key C

Non-Hearsay Purpose: Reason for Refusal

selected 33040203 / source 33040203

Q14808 / key C

Non-Hearsay Purpose: Effect on the Listener

selected 33040203 / source 33040203

Q14807 / key C

Non-Hearsay Purpose: Notice Needs a Limiting Instruction

selected 33040203 / source 33040203

Gold Key / Q14763

GK-EVIDENCE-NOTICE-NONHEARSAY-01

A letter offered to prove that notice was sent or received is not offered for the truth of the letter's contents. Do not use a hearsay exception when the offered purpose is notice rather than truth.

Silver Key / Q14763

SK-EVIDENCE-NONHEARSAY-THRESHOLD-01

Before picking a hearsay exception, ask whether the evidence is hearsay at all. In a notice-use question, the threshold answer beats an exception answer.

Trap Key / Q14763

TK-EVIDENCE-BUSINESS-RECORDS-OVERUSE

Regular files and routine office practice can make business-records language tempting, but a non-hearsay purpose does not need a hearsay exception.

Gold Key / Q14772

GK-EVIDENCE-NONHEARSAY-PURPOSE-01

An out-of-court statement is not hearsay when offered to prove the speaker's connection to a name, event, or circumstance rather than the truth of what was said.

Proof drill / Q14763

Purpose Pin

A copy of a letter is offered only to show that notice was sent. Hearsay or not hearsay?

Not hearsay. It is offered to show notice, not the truth of the letter's contents.

Proof drill / Q14772

Purpose Identification

A witness says the defendant once said, 'I keep a spare key under the mat.' It is offered to prove the burglar had access. Hearsay?

No. It is offered to prove access as a circumstance, not to prove the truth of the statement itself.

What this page must catch

Treating every out-of-court statement as hearsay without checking purpose.