Hearsay rule

Hearsay is not admissible except as provided by these rules, or by other rules adopted by the Supreme Court of Alabama or by statute. Advisory Committee’s Notes This rule tracks Fed.R.Evid. 802, with modifications to adapt it to Alabama practice. It primarily reasserts the principle that hearsay is generally inadmissible. This broad exclusion, however, is subject to exceptions found in other Alabama Rules of Evidence, in other rules promulgated by the Supreme Court of Alabama, and by evidentiary provisions found in statutes. This general hearsay exclusion, as well as the sources from which exceptions to it derive, expresses traditional Alabama law. See, e.g., Ala. Code 1975, § 12-21-5 (exempting certain hospital records from the hearsay exclusion); Ala. Code 1975, § 12-21-30 (providing for the admission of declarations by deceased person as to ancient rights); Ala.R.Civ.P. 32(a) (authorizing the use at trial of depositions). See also C. Gamble, McElroy’s Alabama Evidence § 242.01 (4th ed. 1991).