Opinion ID: 4540108
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Hearsay Challenge

Text: Under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(c), “hearsay” is defined as statements that: “(1) the declarant does not make while testifying at the current trial or hearing; and (2) a party offers in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the statement.” This definition leaves open a fairly wide category of statements that are not hearsay. See Fed. R. Evid. 801(d). Specifically, 801(d)(2)(A) provides that a statement is not hearsay if “[t]he statement is offered against an opposing party and . . . was made by the party in an individual or representative capacity[.]” Based on the exclusion of Rule 801(d)(2)(A), Dunnican’s text messages are not hearsay because they are Dunnican’s own statements, regardless of the electronic medium through which they were sent. We have suggested as much in United States v. Beckman, 624 F. App’x 909 (6th Cir. 2015). There, we determined that a defendant’s electronic instant messages were not hearsay, but rather constituted “admissions” under Rule 801(d)(2)(A). Id. at 913. Relatedly, we concluded that the district court properly admitted portions of the electronic conversations connected to unidentified parties who conversed with the defendant in order “to provide context to [that party’s] own statements. Id.; see also United States v. Henderson, 626 F. 3d 326, 336–37 (6th Cir. 2010) (characterizing statements made by defendant during recorded telephone conversations as non-hearsay admissions under Rule 801(d)(2)(A) and concluding the admission of statements made by unidentified participants in the phone call were not to show the truth of the matter asserted, but to provide context for defendant’s admissions). Similarly here, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting Dunnican’s text-message conversations into evidence.