Opinion ID: 764849
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Exclusion of Affidavit as Hearsay

Text: 19 Commissioner Halloway contends that the district court erred in excluding portions of his affidavit as hearsay. In those portions of his affidavit, Commissioner Halloway stated that Barczak and Rice told him that they had heard some of the defendants discussing how they could get rid of Commissioner Halloway and force him to retire. R.43, para.para. 39-40. We initially note that the issue here is one of hearsay within hearsay: Commissioner Halloway is alleging that someone else told him what another group of people said. See Fed.R.Evid. 805. 3 Our focus must be on the outer layer of the hearsay. 4 20 The district court did not abuse its discretion in deciding that the statements made to Commissioner Halloway by Barczak and Rice are hearsay; they do not come within the ambit of Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(D). That Rule states that a statement is not hearsay if it is by the party's agent or servant concerning a matter within the scope of the agency or employment, made during the existence of the relationship. Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(D); see Swanson v. Leggett & Platt, Inc., 154 F.3d 730, 733 (7th Cir.1998); Nekolny v. Painter, 653 F.2d 1164, 1172 (7th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 1021, 102 S.Ct. 1719, 72 L.Ed.2d 139 (1982). Commissioner Halloway contends that Barczak and Rice were liaisons to Chief Judge Sheedy, and therefore they were acting within their agency when they made statements to Commissioner Halloway. However, the record does not reveal that either Barczak or Rice acted within the scope of his duties in conveying to Commissioner Halloway the substance of the defendants' conversation. Moreover, as will be indicated by our discussion below, we do not think that the evidence, if admitted, would change the outcome.