In any conspiracy trial, the issues will invariably revolve around the admissibility of statements by the various co-conspirators . The Illinois co-conspirator hearsay exception may well determine the outcome in any such trial. 129 Ill. App. The Basis of the Co-Conspirator Exception to the Hearsay Rule. This difference is due to the structure of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Excepted statements are admissible because they have indicia of trustworthiness.
Co-Conspirator statements on the other hand are exempted both because of the their trustworthy nature and because of the agency fiction of conspiracies. What one does pursuant to the common purpose, all do, and, as declarations may be such acts, they are competent against all. Not only does the agency theory mitigate the problem of reliability, it also mitigates the problem of the sixth amendment right to confront witnesses. A defendant can hardly be deprived of the right to confront a witness when that witness was authorized to speak for him. In Illinois, it is not necessary that a co-conspirator testify before his or her statements may be used against the defendant.