Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 16, April 20, 2024
Rule 804 - Exceptions to the Rule Against Hearsay- When the Declarant is Unavailable as a Witness(a)Criteria for Being Unavailable. A declarant is considered to be unavailable as a witness if the declarant: (1) is exempted from testifying about the subject matter of the declarant's statement because the court rules that a privilege applies;(2) refuses to testify about the subject matter despite a court order to do so;(3) testifies to not remembering the subject matter, except as provided in Rule 803.1(4);(4) cannot be present or testify at the trial or hearing because of death or a then-existing infirmity, physical illness, or mental illness; or(5) is absent from the trial or hearing and the statement's proponent has not been able, by process or other reasonable means, to procure: (A) the declarant's attendance, in the case of a hearsay exception under Rule 804(b)(1) or (6); or(B) the declarant's attendance or testimony, in the case of a hearsay exception under Rule 804(b)(2), (3), or (4). But this paragraph (a) does not apply if the statement's proponent procured or wrongfully caused the declarant's unavailability as a witness in order to prevent the declarant from attending or testifying.
The provisions of this Rule 804 amended March 10, 2000, effective immediately, 30 Pa.B. 1639; amended December 17, 2004, effective 1/31/2005, 35 Pa.B. 8; rescinded and replaced January 17, 2013, effective in sixty days, 43 Pa.B. 620; amended March 1, 2017, effective 4/1/2017, 47 Pa.B. 1623.