Then Existing Mental, Emotional, or Physical Condition

Example

During a bank robbery, a bank teller is shot in the leg. She cries out, “Oh God! Help me! Someone, please help me! I’ve been shot!” The robber who shot the woman is charged with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. During the trial, the prosecution seeks to admit the woman’s statement into evidence. The statement can be admitted under Federal Rules of Evidence 803(3), as the statement sheds light on the bank teller’s physical condition during the robbery.

Case Examples

• The then-existing mental, emotional, or physical condition exception is narrow: The courts have limited this exception to a declarant's condition rather than the declarant’s belief. See Gardens v. United States , 167 Fed. Cl. 355, 360 (2023). Under this exception to the hearsay rule, for the statement to be admissible, it must be only about the condition and not what may have induced the condition, such as a statement from the declarant that “someone threatened me.” See Id. In Gardens , owners of a low-income housing development sued the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), claiming that HUD had illegally seized the property. Id. One of the parties attempted to introduce statements by the homeowners that expressed their disappointment with the process. Id. The judge excluded such statements. The judge held that they did not qualify for the then-existing medical, emotional, or physical condition exception to the hearsay rule, as the statements connected the disappointment to its cause. Id.
• Statements must be from the declarant: In United States v. Mason , 294 F. App'x 193, 199 (6th Cir. 2008), Mason, the defendant, appealed his conviction on the grounds that his psychiatric records were excluded from evidence. Id. Mason argued that his records should have been admitted into evidence under, in part, the then-existing medical, emotional, or physical condition exception. Id. The judge disagreed and found that the records were properly excluded, as their prejudicial risks outweighed their probative value. Id.

Further Reading

For more detailed information, see our related Evidence terms: