State v. . Blakeney

The chief question presented by the appeal is the competency of the testimony of W. S. Coursey (above set out), with respect to the defendant’s alleged shortage, the concealment of which, the State contends, was the motive for burning the building and destroying the records of the bank. Upon this evidence the State’s case largely depends. That it is based in part on information obtained from the report of the State bank examiner is conceded, and its incompetency, on the ground of hearsay, is not seriously questioned.

As a general rule, hearsay evidence is not admissible in the trial of causes…