Just to show this exception in actual practice and to try and place you in such a tragic and extreme situation, below are excerpts from a case where a dying declaration formed part of the evidence to convict the accused. xxx.” (Ibid.) Examples of Dying Declarations xxx Fourth, the declaration must be offered in a criminal case for homicide, murder, or parricide, in which the declarant is the victim. The rule is that where the declarant would not have been a competent witness had he survived, the proffered declarations will not be admissible. xxx Third, the declarant is competent as a witness. xxx Second, at the time the declaration was made, the declarant must be under the consciousness of an impending death. “xxx irst, the declaration must concern the cause and surrounding circumstances of the declarant’s death. There are 4 requisites in order for this exception to the hearsay rule to apply: The law considers the point of death as a situation so solemn and awful as creating an obligation equal to that which is imposed by an oath administered in court.” PEOPLE vs. xxx declaration is made in extremity, when the party is at the point of death and when every motive to falsehood is silenced and the mind is induced by the most powerful considerations to speak the truth. xxx he declarant’s death renders it impossible his taking the witness stand, and it often happens that there is no other equally satisfactory proof of the crime allowing it, therefore, prevents a failure of justice. 596) Woe to you if he does not have that much of a conscience and repeats a lie despite his impending exit from this world.Įven the Supreme Court has referred to this exception as the “most mystical in its theory.” It further stated that “a dying declaration or ante mortem statement is evidence of the highest order and is entitled to utmost credence since no person aware of his impending death would make a careless and false accusation. However, his declaration can only cover cases wherein the “death of the declarant is the subject of inquiry.” To put in more literary terms, “truth sits in the lips of the dying man” (Ibid., p. (31a)”It may seem archaic but the rules do presume that a dying man has the conscience, or enough of it, to tell the truth. The declaration of a dying person, made under the consciousness of an impending death, may be received in any case wherein his death is the subject of inquiry, as evidence of the cause and surrounding circumstances of such death. However, there are exceptions to the hearsay rule such as the dying declaration. 565-567)ĭying declarations as exception to hearsay rule This is because in a hearsay situation there are actually two witnesses - one who is testifying in court and one other person, whose utterances are the subject of the testimony.(Herrera, Remedial Law, Vol. The rule is based on concerns about the trustworthiness and reliability of hearsay evidence, since this is not given under oath and not subject to cross-examination where opposing counsel can test a witness. (30a)” (Rule 130)What exactly is hearsay? Note that the rule does not define what it is but only what it is not: facts not perceived by the witness himself. A witness can testify only to those facts which he knows of his personal knowledge that is, which are derived from his own perception, except as otherwise provided in these rules.
Testimony generally confined to personal knowledge hearsay excluded.