What is the rule that prevents the admission of out-of-court statements not made under oath by a person who is unavailable to testify?

• A. Competence
• B. Hearsay rule
• C. Best evidence rule
• D. Privilege

Answer: (B)

The rule is the hearsay rule. It blocks the use of out-of-court statements offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted when the declarant is unavailable to testify and the statement wasn’t made under oath, because there’s no opportunity to cross-examine and there’s no sworn oath to assure reliability. Exceptions do exist that allow certain such statements to come in, but by default they are inadmissible. The other concepts address different issues: competence deals with a witness’s ability to testify, the best evidence rule requires original writings to prove their contents, and privilege protects certain confidential communications from disclosure.