Senate Bill sb0988c1

    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 988

    By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Campbell





    590-2351-05

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to evidence; repealing s.

  3         90.602, F.S., relating to testimony of

  4         interested persons regarding oral communication

  5         with a deceased or mentally incompetent person;

  6         amending s. 90.804, F.S.; providing a hearsay

  7         exception in specified actions or proceedings

  8         for a statement made by a declarant who is

  9         unavailable due to death, illness, or infirmity

10         regarding the same subject matter as a

11         statement made by the declarant that was

12         previously offered by an adverse party and

13         admitted; providing an effective date.

14  

15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

16  

17         Section 1.  Section 90.602, Florida Statutes, is

18  repealed.

19         Section 2.  Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (2) of

20  section 90.804, Florida Statutes, to read:

21         90.804  Hearsay exceptions; declarant unavailable.--

22         (2)  HEARSAY EXCEPTIONS.--The following are not

23  excluded under s. 90.802, provided that the declarant is

24  unavailable as a witness:

25         (e)  Statement by deceased or ill declarant similar to

26  one previously admitted.--In an action or proceeding brought

27  against the personal representative, heir at law, assignee,

28  legatee, devisee, or survivor of a deceased person, or against

29  a trustee of a trust created by a deceased person, or against

30  the assignee, committee, or guardian of a mentally incompetent

31  person, when a declarant is unavailable as provided in

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 988
    590-2351-05




 1  paragraph (1)(d), a written or oral statement made regarding

 2  the same subject matter as another statement made by the

 3  declarant that has previously been offered by an adverse party

 4  and admitted in evidence.

 5         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

 6  

 7          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
 8                         Senate Bill 988

 9                                 

10  The committee substitute revises the underlying bill by
    restricting the hearsay exception to actions against a person
11  in control of the assets of a deceased person or a person in
    control of an incompetent person or his or her assets.
12  

13  

14  

15  

16  

17  

18  

19  

20  

21  

22  

23  

24  

25  

26  

27  

28  

29  

30  

31  

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.