Hearsay rule

A rule that declares not admissible as evidence any statementother than that by a witness while testifying at the hearing and offered intoevidence to prove the truth of the matter stated. The hearsay statement may beoral or written and includes nonverbal conduct intended as a substitute forwords. The reason for the hearsay rule is that credibility of the witness isthe key ingredient in weighing the truth of his statement; so when thatstatement is made out of court, without benefit of cross-examination andwithout the witness' demeanor being subject to assessment by the judge or jury,there is generally no adequate basis for determining whether the out-of-courtstatement is true.