Yet the rising of mere hearsay of the most informal and off-hand, ill-considered statements to the level of hard contract, an illegal contract that the outlaw legal process of Florida now recognizes as a future contract for felos-de-se (to be more specific: murder in the form of assisted suicide) is more the greater danger to us all.
Consider what hearsay is under less outlaw law,
HEARSAY EVIDENCE. The evidence of those who relate, not what they know themselves, but what they have heard from others.That's from Bouvier's 1856 Law Dictionary.2. As a general rule, hearsay evidence of a fact is not admissible. If any fact is to be substantiated against a person, it ought to be proved in his presence by the testimony of a witness sworn or affirmed to speak the truth.
3. There are, however, exceptions to the rule. 1. Hearsay is admissible when it is introduced, not as a medium of proof in order to establish a distinct fact, but as being in itself a part of the transaction in question, when it is a part of the res gestae. 1 Phil. Ev. 218; 4 Wash. C. C. R. 729; 14 Serg. & Rawle, 275; 21 How. St. Tr. 535; 6 East, 193.
4. - 2. What a witness swore on a former trial, between the same parties, and where the same point was in issue as in the second action, and he is since dead, what he swore to is in general, evidence. 2 Show. 47; 11 John. R. 446; 2 Hen. & Munf. 193; 17 John. R. 176; But see 14 Mass. 234; 2 Russ. on Cr. 683, and the notes.
5. - 3. The dying declarations of a person who has received a mortal injury, as to the fact itself, and the party by whom it was committed, are good evidence under certain circumstances. Vide Declarations, and 15 John. R. 286; 1 Phil. Ev. 215; 2 Russ. on Cr. 683.
6. - 4. In questions concerning public rights, common reputation is admitted to be evidence.
7. - 5. The declarations of deceased persons in cases where they appear to have been made against their interest, have been admitted.
8. - 6. Declarations in cases of birth and pedigree are also to be received in evidence.
9. - 7. Boundaries may be proved by hearsay evidence, but, it seems, it must amount to common tradition or repute. 6 Litt. 7; 6 Pet. 341; Cooke, R142; 4 Dev. 342; 1 Hawks 45; 4 Hawks, 116; 4 Day, 265. See 3 Ham. 283; 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 3065, et seq. 10. There are perhaps a few more exceptions which will be found in the books referred to below. 2 Russ. on Cr. B. 6, c.3; Phil. Ev. ch. 7, s. 7; 1 Stark. Ev. 40; Rosc. Cr. Ev. 20; Rosc. Civ. Ev.19 to 24; Bac. Ab. Evidence, K; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t. Vide also, Dig. 39,3, 2, 8; Id. 22, 3, 28. see Gresl. Eq. Ev. pt. 2, c. 3, s. 3, p. 218, for the rules in courts of equity, as to receiving hearsay evidence 20 Am. Jur.68.
Scott Peterson was not as shrewd as for all practical purposes Micheal Schiavo was. Look, if Scott had but knocked his preggo wifey unconscious and stuck her in a Sun Coast hospice he could have collected at the malpractice well some millions, moved in with Amber Frey, and had the Seminole State Sheriffs and Deputies Asembled in Mighty Force complete his dastardly deed.
After all, Scott need only say, that one evening long ago Mrs. Peterson-the-First watched some soppy Lifetime Channel make-believe drama and said -- cross his heart -- that she had whispered through the tears what he heard above the kleenex that she and Connor both would never ever ever want to live with more than one limb missing.
And then the blindly Greer enrobed would pop up from under his great judicial desk and pound his stamp down hard on the death warrant. "Hooray!" he'd shout. "Commence the official majesty of Florida Justice immediately!"
Wow, I have to admit that I'm very ignorant regarding hearsay evidence. Great post, thanks.
Yes, Scott Peterson could have gone that route, but he wasn't that crafty. I think Laci found out that he was sleeping with other women, and he panicked.
We should put all these cases in perspective. The Clinton crimes, are a good start. They will probably never be called to justice in this world, but wait until HE judges them in the next world.