Final Moments

摘要

When introduced to the Dying Declaration Rule during my law school evidence class, I did A not have the confidence or courage to speak out and say my first thoughts: This is illogical and not based upon any scientific or other research. Perhaps in England, during the Middle Ages, it was true-or mostly true, or sometimes true-that a man would not meet his maker with a lie on his lips. This idea, that terminal words are reliable words, took root and is codified in state rules and as a hearsay exception in the Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(2), Statement Under the Belief of Impending Death. See, e.g., Aviva Orenstein, "Her Last Words: Dying Declarations and Modern Confrontation Jurisprudence," 2010 U. Ill Law Rev., No. 5, 1411 (2010).