Exculpatory statements made outside of court
Self-serving statements
• Neither the definition of hearsay nor the exceptions to the hearsay rule employ the term, “self serving,” a concept that dates back to a time in which defendants were not competent to testify as witnesses. Some exceptions, such as that for declarations against interest, preclude the use of “self serving” statements by virtue of their definitions, but the rules governing hearsay contain no blanket prohibition against admissibility of self serving statements under an exception to the hearsay rule.
6 Terrance L. Smith & Adrian P. Smith, Indiana Practice, Trial Handbook for Indiana Lawyers § 32:3 (2015)(citations omitted)
Exculpatory statements made outside of court
• Generally, a defendant who does not testify cannot introduce exculpatory statements made outside of court in order to enhance his credibility at trial.
Sweeney v. State, 704 N.E.2d 86, 110 (Ind. 1998), cert. denied, 527 U.S. 1035 (1999)
Stuckey v. State, 560 N.E.2d 88, 93 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990), trans. denied(citing Canaan v. State, 541 N.E.2d 894, 904 (Ind. 1989), reh’g denied, cert. denied, 498 U.S. 882 (1990))