What someone told you outside of court generally cannot be used to prove that what they said was true.
What Hearsay Is
In Blue v. Hemmans, 327 Ga. App. 353 (2014), a custody modification case, the Court of Appeals quoted the definition in OCGA 24-8-801(c): “Hearsay means a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.”
In that case a mother testified that school officials had told her the father gave the school only the first page of the custody order, leaving the school unaware of her rights. The father objected. The Court of Appeals held her testimony “should have been disregarded by the trial court as inadmissible hearsay,” so the trial court’s finding that the father had interfered with her school access was “unsupported by competent evidence.” The custody order was vacated.
If You Do Not Object, It Comes In
OCGA 24-8-802 provides that “if a party does not properly object to hearsay, the objection shall be deemed waived, and the hearsay evidence shall be legal evidence and admissible,” language the Court of Appeals quoted in Callaway v. Quinn, 347 Ga. App. 325 (2018). An objection has to be made when the testimony comes out.
The Exceptions
OCGA 24-8-803 sets out a long list of exceptions, business records among them. There is also a residual exception at OCGA 24-8-807 for a trustworthy statement that no other exception covers, but the Georgia Supreme Court said in Miller v. State, 303 Ga. 1 (2018), that it is “to be used very rarely and only in exceptional circumstances.”
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!