Legal Question in Criminal Law in Indiana

was charged with a crime but hospital records prove nothing happened, persons that have been interviewed during the investigation made false claims against me. So shouldn't this case be dismissed and wouldn't their statements be hearsay?


Asked on 8/01/10, 11:57 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Jay Rigdon Rockhill Pinnick LLP

There is no method for dismissal before a trial in Indiana based upon facts. This is why you have a lawyer who can defend you at the trial. If a witness testifies about what they saw, it is NOT hearsay.

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Answered on 8/07/10, 7:11 pm
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

The records may strongly suggest that nothing happened, but they don't prove it. The fact that you have good evidence on your side does not mean you are entitled to a dismissal. Neither does your insistence that the prosecutor's witnesses are lying. They way to resolve such disagreements is by trial, so it would make no sense to say the existence of the disagreement entitles you to avoid a trial.

Whether the witnesses' statements are hearsay will depend upon who testifies and what they say. If someone else testifies about what the witness said then the testimony probably would be hearsay. But much hearsay is admissible, since there are several broad exceptions to the hearsay rule. And if the witnesses come to court and testify in person, that would eliminate the problems created by having someone else testify about their statements. Some of the statements themselves might also be hearsay, but they too might well fit into an exception.

Here again, you will probably have to deal with these issues at trial. The fact that there might be hearsay problems with the prosecutor's evidence will not justify dismissing the case. You can only avoid a trial by proving ahead of time that there is literally no way the prosecutor can prove her case using admissible evidence.

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Answered on 8/08/10, 7:20 pm


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