Hearsay evidence is the evidence of those who relate, not what they know themselves, but what they have heard from others. Generally, hearsay is not admissible in federal or state courts. However, an exception is that hearsay testimony can be used in conspiracy cases if the people speaking were also co-conspirators. The recent scandal involving Governor Spitzer of New York in which he was identified as a client of a high-priced prostitution service is illustrative of the problems involved in conspiracy cases.
The case against Spitzer began because “suspicious activity” was noted in his banking transactions. A federal investigation was launched in order to determine if Spitzer was hiding bribes, but surprisingly, a wiretap later identified Spitzer as a client of a prostitution ring. Because of the wiretap, there were also recorded conversations between a prostitute and her madam in which they discussed the Governor’s request to have unprotected sex with the prostitute. So now, because of a third party conversation, not only does the Governor’s wife know that he sleeps with prostitutes, but that he wanted to have unprotected sex. Despite the fact that such a conversation is hearsay, at trial that information could be introduced because the discussion was between co-conspirators.
In cases involving narcotics or money laundering, a telephone might as well be a gun. It can hurt you that badly. It is not what you say, but what others say about you.