The Admission of Double Hearsay
When an out-of-court statement offered as evidence contains another out-of-court statement, both layers of hearsay must be found separately admissible. [E]ach level of double hearsay must fall within an exception, or be admissible under the principled approach. R. v. Starr , [2000] 2 S.C.R. 144 at para 172 So, for example, where A describes to B what A witnessed during fight (one level of hearsay), and B makes a statement to police about what A has told him (another level of hearsay), the party seeking to have B’s hearsay police statement admitted as evidence for the truth of its contents would have to a. prove that B’s out-of-court statement represents that version of events which was recounted to him by A, and then b. prove that the version of events described by A to B was what actually happened. See R. v. Cesar , 2016 ONCA 890 Hearsay evidence “is defined not by the nature of the e...