State v. . Lassiter

Hearsay evidence is defined in King v. Bynum, 137 N. C., 495, as follows: “Evidence, oral or written, is called hearsay when its probative force depends in whole or in part upon the competency and credibility of some person other than the witness by whom it is sought to produce it.” In the case of Mima Queen v. Hepburn, 7 Cranch, 290, Chief Justice Marshall held the principle to be that hearsay evidence is incompetent to establish any specific fact in its nature susceptible of being proved by witnesses who speak from their own knowledge. It is a rule of evidence that hearsay is in its own…