THE COURTS

Title 225—RULES
OF EVIDENCE

[ 225 PA. CODE ART. VIII ]

Order Approving the Revision to the Comment to Rule of Evidence 802; No. 631 Supreme Court Rules Doc.

[44 Pa.B. 1309]
[Saturday, March 8, 2014]

Order

Per Curiam

 And Now, this 19th day of February, 2014, upon the recommendation of the Committee on Rules of Evidence; the proposal having been published for public comment at 43 Pa.B. 210 (January 12, 2013):

 It Is Ordered pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania that the Comment to Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 802 is revised in the following form.

 This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(b), and shall be effective April 1, 2014.

Annex A

TITLE 225. RULES OF EVIDENCE

ARTICLE VIII. HEARSAY

Rule 802. The Rule Against Hearsay.

*  *  *  *  *

Comment

*  *  *  *  *

 On occasion, hearsay may be admitted pursuant to another rule promulgated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. For example, in civil cases, all or part of a deposition may be admitted pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. No. 4020, or a video deposition of an expert witness may be admitted pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. No. 4017.1(g). In preliminary hearings in criminal cases, the court may consider hearsay evidence pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 542(E) and 1003(E). In criminal trials, Pa.R.Crim.P. 574 provides a procedure for the admission of forensic laboratory reports supported by a certification.

*  *  *  *  *

Hearsay Exceptions and the Right of Confrontation of a Defendant in a Criminal Case

*  *  *  *  *

 In short, when hearsay is offered against a defendant in a criminal case, the defendant may interpose three separate objections: (1) admission of the evidence would violate the hearsay rule, (2) admission of the evidence would violate defendant's right to confront the witnesses against him under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and (3) admission of the evidence would violate defendant's right ''to be confronted with the witnesses against him'' under Article I, § 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

 Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 574 provides a mechanism for the admission of a forensic laboratory report supported by a certification. This Rule provides a defendant an opportunity to exercise the right of confrontation and to object to the report on hearsay grounds. Following pre-trial notice by the prosecution, and in the ab- sence of a demand by defendant for declarant's live testimony, the Rule permits the admission of a properly certified forensic laboratory report at trial and the accompanying certification at trial. See Pa.R.Crim.P. 574.

 Official Note: Adopted May 8, 1998, effective October 1, 1998; Comment revised March 23, 1999, effective immediately; Comment revised March 10, 2000, effective immediately; Comment revised March 29, 2001, effective April 1, 2001; rescinded and replaced January 17, 2013, effective March 18, 2013.

 Committee Explanatory Reports:

*  *  *  *  *

 Final Report explaining the February 19, 2014 revision of the Comment published with the Court's Order at 44 Pa.B. 1309 (March 8, 2014).

FINAL REPORT¹

Revision of the Comment to Rule of Evidence 802

 On February 19, 2014, effective April 1, 2014, 2013, upon the joint recommendation of the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee and the Committee on Rules of Evidence, the Court adopted new Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 574 and a corollary revision to the Comment to Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 802

 Historically, the Comment to Rule of Evidence 802 was intended to inform that the Rules of Evidence do not attempt to codify requirements under the Confrontation Clause. See Pa.R.E. 802, Comment. Moreover, the Rules of Evidence acknowledge that evidentiary rules may exist in other bodies of rules. Id.

 The new Criminal Rule of Procedure 574 will operate both as a ''notice and demand'' mechanism to satisfy the requirements of the Confrontation Clause and as a new rule of evidence that will permit the admission of laboratory reports in criminal trials. Accordingly, the Comment to Rule 802 was amended to recognize this new Rule and describe its operation.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 14-463. Filed for public inspection March 7, 2014, 9:00 a.m.]

_______

¹  The Committee's Final Report should not be confused with the official Committee Comments to the rules. Also note that the Supreme Court does not adopt the Committee's Comments or the contents of the Committee's explanatory Final Reports.

---

No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.

---