Law Lessons from ANTHONY PACE VS. ELIZABETH BOARD OF EDUCATION, ET AL., App. Div., A-4995-10T4, December 10, 2012:

Hearsay, an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted therein, is generally considered untrustworthy or unreliable and is inadmissible for that reason. See State v. White, 158 N.J. 230, 238 (1999).

N.J.R.E. 803(b), “Statement by PartyOpponent,” exempts statements made by a party to the action if offered against him in that action. One Step Up, Ltd. v. Sam Logistic, Inc., 419 N.J. Super. 500, 507-08 (App. Div. 2011); see Biunno, Weissbard & Zegas, Current N.J. Rules of Evidence, comment 1 on N.J.R.E. 803(b) (2012) (noting that party opponent admissions are admissible only when offered against the speaker). But the rule only applies to parties to an action. State v. Irving, 114 N.J. 427, 437 (1989). After all, when evidence comes in under this exception, a party “cannot complain of the inability to confront and cross-examine the declarant, since he himself is the declarant.” See State v. Kennedy, 135 N.J. Super. 513, 522 (App. Div. 1975).

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