Also known as:statements against interest · declaration against interest
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A hearsay exception that admits an unavailable declarant's statement when a reasonable person in the declarant's position would have made it only if believing it true because it was contrary to the declarant's proprietary, pecuniary, or penal interest. The exception reaches only those discrete portions of a statement that are genuinely self-inculpatory.
Sources & Authorities
How it applies
Common Examples
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Self-Inculpatory Portion Admitted
Steven Silva told his coworker Serena Soto that he had falsified safety logs to avoid termination and that his supervisor had instructed him to do so. After Steven died in an unrelated accident, Serena offered the testimony in a civil negligence suit against the employer. The court admitted only Steven's admission about his own falsification because that portion exposed him to civil and criminal liability, while excluding the remark that merely shifted blame to the supervisor.
Pecuniary Interest Exposed
Sasha Stone, a clinic employee, told her colleague that she had skipped required patient checks to finish her shift early, risking her job and exposing the clinic to malpractice claims. Sasha later left the country and could not be located for trial. In the resulting civil suit, the court admitted the statement because a reasonable person in Sasha's position would have made it only if believing it true given the direct threat to her employment and potential civil liability.
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Cases
Casebooks
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Study Supplements
No Corroboration Needed in Civil Case
Scott Summers, a nonprofit treasurer, admitted to his friend that he had diverted donation funds to pay personal debts and feared arrest. Scott died shortly afterward. In the organization's civil recovery action against his estate, the court admitted the statement because it exposed Scott to both civil and criminal liability and the civil context eliminated any corroboration requirement.
Common questions
Frequently Asked
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Does the corroborating-circumstances requirement apply in a civil case?+
No. Rule 804(b)(3)(B) imposes the corroboration requirement only when the statement is offered in a criminal case. In civil actions the statement need only satisfy the reasonable-person test in subdivision (A).
Supporting sources
Are collateral statements that incriminate another person admissible?+
No. Only the discrete remarks that are genuinely self-inculpatory qualify. Portions that merely blame another are inadmissible even if they appear in the same narrative.
Supporting sources
What makes a statement contrary to penal interest?+
The statement must expose the declarant to criminal liability such that a reasonable person would have made it only if believing it true. Admissions of safety violations or theft satisfy this test when they carry that risk.
Supporting sources
Does unavailability through death always satisfy the threshold requirement?+
Yes. Death is an express ground of unavailability under Rule 804(a)(4). The proponent need only show that the declarant cannot testify and was not wrongfully made unavailable by the proponent.
Supporting sources
371 U.S. 471 (1963)Criminal Procedure
…to the introduction of the statements the claim that each statement, "even if it were a purported admission or confession or declaration against interest of a defendant . . . would not be binding upon the other defendant." The trial judge, in allowing the statements in, apparently overruled all of petitioners' objections, including this one.…