Present sense impression

Present sense impression

A present sense impression, in the law of evidence, is a statement made by a person (the declarant) that conveys his or her sense of the state of an event or the condition of something. The statement must be spontaneously made while the person was perceiving (i.e. contemporaneous with) the event or condition, or "immediately thereafter." The permissible time lapse between event and statement may range from seconds to minutes, but probably not hours. The subject matter and content of the statement are limited to descriptions or explanations of the event or condition, therefore opinions, inferences, or conclusions about the event or condition are not present sense impressions. An example of present sense impression is of a person saying, "it's cold" or "we're going really fast".

Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, a statement of present sense impression is an exception to the prohibition on use of hearsay as evidence at a trial or hearing, and is therefore admissible to prove the truth of the statement itself (i.e. to prove that it was in fact cold at the time the person was speaking, or to prove that the person was indeed traveling very fast). The basis for this exception is the belief that the statement is likely reliable and true, as there is no time for reflection, distortion, or fabrication.

The witness testifying about the statement need not be the declarant who, with firsthand knowledge about the event and condition, would normally make a better witness. The witness must have personal knowledge of declarant's making of the statement, but need not have personal knowledge of the event or the content of the statement. For example, a policeman observed from a distance that a reporter was dictating into a voice-recorder while a shooting was going on, but could not hear what the reporter was dictating. The reporter is unavailable to testify. The policeman testifies that he saw the reporter make the dictation. Upon proper authentication, that portion of the audio-recording containing descriptions or explanations of the shooting is admissible as present sense impression.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • present sense impression — present sense im·pres·sion n: an out of court statement that describes or explains an event or condition and that was made during or immediately after the time the event or condition was perceived; also: an exception to the hearsay rule allowing… …   Law dictionary

  • present sense impression — noun A statement made by a person (the declarant) that conveys his or her sense of the state of an event or the condition of something, made spontaneously while the person was perceiving (i.e. contemporaneous with) the event or condition, or… …   Wiktionary

  • Impression — An impression is the overall effect of something.Impression may also refer to: * Impressionist (entertainment), a mimic * Impression seal, a form of identifying seal * Impression Formation, the process of integrating information about a person *… …   Wikipedia

  • impression — 1. A mark seemingly made by pressure of one structure or organ on another, seen especially in cadaveric dissections. See also groove for the various impressions of the lungs, e.g., descending aorta, subclavian artery, and vena cavae. 2. An …   Medical dictionary

  • Toward the Age of Common Sense — ▪ 1995 by Sir Peter Ustinov       I am not one of those who can easily tell the difference between year and year, like a meteorologist with reliable charts to go by. I am not even one who can refer to a kind of event or quirk of fashion as… …   Universalium

  • Hearsay in United States law — Hearsay is the legal term that describes statements made outside of court or other judicial proceedings. Unless one of about thirty [cite web |title= Hearsay Evidence |url=http://criminal.findlaw.com/crimes/more criminal topics/evidence… …   Wikipedia

  • Impress — or Impression may have several meanings:*OpenOffice.org Impress, a presentation program included in the OpenOffice.org office suite. *OfficeMax ImPress Print Document Services, a division of OfficeMax, Inc. specializing in the pay for print… …   Wikipedia

  • Excited utterance — An excited utterance, in the law of evidence, is a statement made by a person in response to a startling or shocking event or condition. The statement must be spontaneously made by the person (the declarant) while still under the stress of… …   Wikipedia

  • Digital evidence — Evidence Part of the …   Wikipedia

  • Witness — For other uses, see Witness (disambiguation). Evidence …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”