Article VIII. Hearsay
Rule 805. Hearsay Within Hearsay
Advisory Commission Comments
The rule provides that out-of-court statement containing several levels of hearsay and multiple declarants is nonetheless admissible if a hearsay exception applies to each declarant’s statement. Also, while not covered here, a particular declarant’s statement in the chain may be admissible as nonhearsay.
Often hospital records contain a nurse’s notation that a patient said something to the nurse. In that instance a court must deal with two hearsay declarations. The nurse’s notation is admissible as a business record to the extent of showing what words were spoken. The patient’s statement may then be admissible under the admissions exception to the declarations of physical condition exception.