Anything You Say Can Be Used Against You
Every once in a while something you see and hear on TV or in a movie turns out to be true. It’s not often but it happens. This is one of those times.
Florida’s evidence code can be quite restrictive in the types of out of court statements it allows the jury to hear. In fact, the rule is that no witness can testify to the jury about an out of court statement unless that statement can be shown to be reliable. Only in certain circumstances are juries allowed to hear out of court statements.
Those exceptions to the rule are very specific in their requirements. When it comes to statements made by parties to a lawsuit however, the jury is allowed to hear almost any out of court statement made by that person if it is offered against that party.
This rule is called the party admission. The rule’s name can be confusing to attorneys because the party (defendant or plaintiff) need not actually admit anything. The rule states that a parties own statement is admissible if it is offered against them. Interestingly, the party cannot admit their own out of court statement, but the party’s opponent can use their own such statements against them.
Another area of confusion among lawyers is whether or not the statement must be against the party’s interest to be admissible. The answer is that it need not. Even if a statement is in the party’s interest, it can be used against that person by his opponent.
If you are ever unfortunate enough to find yourself in a situation where you think you may end up in court, say as little as possible. Even things you think will help you can be used against you. Whether you’ve been in a car accident in Daytona Beach, whether your child has been injured at day care, or your parent has been injure in a nursing home, remember, anything you, your child or your parent say can be used against you.
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