Empirical study of hearsay rules - Bridging the gap between psychology and law

The legal rules regarding hearsay rest heavily on "empirical hunches" that could usefully be evaluated through psychological research. Because of the complexity of the rules, psychologists have found it difficult to identify important underlying assumptions that might be tested and lawyers have not appreciated the possible importance of empirical research. This article is designed to help bridge the gap between psychology and law by promoting innovative thinking about the role of empirical research in the evaluation of hearsay. The authors describe the hearsay rules and their rationale in a manner useful to psychological researchers and discuss the prospects for testing underlying assumptions.