MEMO
TO: Joint Procedure Committee
FROM: Mike Hagburg
DATE: Jan. 1, 2011
RE: Rule 804, N.D.R.Ev, Hearsay Exceptions; Declarant Unavailable
Amendments to Fed.R.Ev. 804 have been adopted effective December 1, 2010. These amendments are designed to improve the clarity of the "Statement Against Interest" exception and to require corroborating circumstances when the exception is used in a criminal case.
The revision was designed to make use of the exception uniform. Currently, only the defendant is required to make a showing of corroborating circumstances but some federal courts have also applied the corroborating circumstances requirement to declarations offered by the prosecution.
Proposed amendments to Rule 804 based on the federal amendments are attached. A copy of Fed.R.Ev. 804 and explanatory material on the 2010 amendments is attached.