Hearsay Evidence in Florida Drug Cases

The sensationalized talk shows that used to play on TV between the 1970s and the 2000s were designed for an audience that had nothing better to do during the day than watch TV. While the gainfully employed people of the world were at work, or else sleeping off last night’s shift in preparation for going back to work that evening, the idiot box, which was indeed shaped like a box in those days, was busy entertaining the retirees and the people excluded from the workforce due to ill health, family caregiving responsibilities, or lack of employment opportunities.  And then there were the druggies.  Potheads, as weed aficionados were called in those days, enjoyed daytime talk shows most of all.  Every piece of idle gossip sounds momentous when you are high.  Criminal trials, by contrast, are a more sober affair.  A wild story that elicits uproarious giggles from a smoke-filled room full of potheads is hardly sufficient to persuade twelve carefully selected jurors, beyond a reasonable doubt, of a defendant’s guilt. Therefore, hearsay evidence usually has no place in criminal court, but there are some situations where the court will allow it. Instead of panicking when someone claims to have heard you talking about buying, selling, or consuming illegal drugs, contact a Florida drug offenses attorney.

Does It Matter If Someone Said They Heard You Talking About Selling Drugs?

Hearsay evidence is when a witness reports something that someone else said while the witness was present. Criminal courts consider it undesirable because it is so difficult to verify; it is usually more distracting and prejudicial than it is informative. Whenever possible, the court prefers the jury to hear the speech coming directly from the original speaker. This could mean summoning the original speaker to testify or playing a recording of the original speaker’s speech.

This does not mean that everything that other people say about your drug use should go in one ear and out the other. If police question one of your drug buddies, and your drug buddy reports things that you allegedly said about your drug use, the police might use this evidence in their investigation. This might be the evidence they need to justify sending an undercover officer to contact you about drugs and to record his conversations with you. If this happens, then the prosecution will not present the hearsay statements by your drug buddy to the jury at your trial, but it might present the conversations recorded by the undercover officer.

Likewise, the court might allow hearsay evidence when the only other feasible option is to summon a child to testify. If your young niece told your sister that she heard you on the phone promising to deliver a stash of drugs to the person you were talking to, the court might ask your sister to testify instead of your underage niece.

Contact FL Drug Defense Group About Drug Cases

A Central Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if the prosecution is building its case against you based on hearsay evidence.  Contact FL Drug Defense Group in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0090/Sections/0090.803.html