What does “anything you say will be used against you in court” exactly mean?

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Is it really “anything” and how will it be used? Never thought about it, but it sounds kind of strange.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

If you want a more technical answer, this is called a party admission. If you say something to a policer officer when interviewed, that is technically hearsay. If the officer repeats that in court, they are repeating an out of court statement for the truth of matter asserted. That should not be allowed. However, party admission is an exception to hearsay. If any member of the accused party makes any statement of any kind that is against the interests of that party, that is a party admission and is admissible. As the famous quote goes, “Anything the other side ever said or did will be admissible so long as it has something to do with the case.”

It’s an odd hearsay exception. Unlike other exceptions which deal more with availability and reliability of a declarant, this exception is an estoppel, meaning you are bound by what you say. However, this exception only works one way. A statement made in the party’s own interest is not a party admission. This means that if you say something bad about yourself to an officer, they can use it trial against you, but if you say something good, you cannot use it to support you (unless another hearsay exception applies).

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