Santa Clara Law Review Volume 39 | Number 3 Article 2 1-1-1999 Ancient Documents and the Rule Against Multiple Hearsay Gregg Kettles Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/lawreview Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Gregg Kettles, Ancient Documents and the Rule Against Multiple Hearsay, 39 Santa Clara L. Rev. 719 (1999). Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/lawreview/vol39/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Santa Clara Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Santa Clara Law Review by an authorized administrator of Santa Clara Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ANCIENT DOCUMENTS AND THE RULE AGAINST MULTIPLE HEARSAY Gregg Kettles* I. INTRODUCTION This article analyzes whether statements in a document properly authenticated as "ancient" pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 901(b)(8) are subject to the rule against multiple hearsay. I conclude that the rule against multiple hearsay applies to such statements in ancient documents. In order for a given statement in an ancient document to be admissi- ble to prove the truth of the matter asserted, the statement must either be within the personal knowledge of the author or qualify under a separate exception to the hearsay rule. For each level of hearsay present within the document, the party offering the hearsay evidence must demonstrate that an exception to the hearsay rule applies. Federal Rule of Evidence 802 provides that "[h]earsay' is not admissible except as provided by these rules or by other rules prescribed by the Supreme Court pursuant to statutory authority or by Act of Congress."2 Rule 803 sets out a num- ber of exceptions to this rule, including the following: "(16) [s]tatements in ancient documents" and "[s]tatements in a document in existence twenty years or more the authenticity of which is established."3 Authenticating a document as "an- cient" is accomplished by satisfying the straightforward * The author received his J.D.