Hearsay Exceptions: Present Sense Impressions & Excited Utterances

Rule 803 sets out twenty-three hearsay exceptions that apply regardless of the declarant’s availability. Two that arise with some frequency in criminal cases are present sense impressions and excited utterances. Here’s what you need to know about those exceptions. Present Sense Impression. Rule 803(1) provides an exception for “[a] statement describing or explaining an event or condition made while the declarant was perceiving the event or condition, or immediately thereafter.” The justification for the exception is that the “closeness in time between the event and the declarant’s statement reduces the likelihood of deliberate or conscious misrepresentation.” State v. Morgan, 359 N.C. 131, 154 (2004). “Describing or Explaining an Event or Condition.” To be admissible under this exception, the statement must describe or explain an event or condition. N.C. R. Evid. 803(1). For example, in State v. Morgan, 359 N.C. 131, 155 (2004), a declarant’s statement to the defendant’s brother that the declarant needed help because the defendant was “tripping” fell within this exception because it explained the defendant’s condition. Contemporaneous with or Immediately Thereafter. To be admissible under this exception the statement must have been made “while the declarant was perceiving the event or condition, or immediately thereafter.” N.C. R. Evid. 803(1). When the statement is made contemporaneously with the event or condition, this requirement is satisfied. See, e.g., State v. Reid, 322 N.C. 309, 315 (1988) (statement was contemporaneous with event). There are no rigid rules about the temporal connection between the statement and the event in question. State v. [...]