§ 90.803, Fla. Stat. — Hearsay Exceptions (Declarant Availability Immaterial)
Plain English
This is the workhorse of hearsay law. Section 90.803 holds 24 exceptions that let an out-of-court statement come in even if the person who said it is available to testify — because these categories are considered reliable enough to trust on their own. The heavy hitters every trial lawyer lives with: spontaneous statements (1) and excited utterances (2) — blurted reactions courts trust because there was no time to fabricate; statements for medical diagnosis or treatment (4); the business records exception (6) — the backbone of documentary proof; public records (8); former testimony (22); and admissions (18) — anything the opposing party said, used against them. Florida also has special child-victim (23) and elderly/disabled-adult (24) exceptions with their own reliability hearings and notice rules.
From the Courtroom
Try enough cases and you live in 90.803(6). The business-records exception decides whether the stack of invoices, logs, and medical bills comes in clean or dies for lack of a records custodian. It’s not glamorous — the case is often won in the boring, disciplined work of laying that foundation before anyone objects.
Key Points & Authority
- Marquee exceptions: (1) spontaneous statement; (2) excited utterance; (3) then-existing mental/emotional/physical condition; (4) medical diagnosis or treatment; (5) recorded recollection; (6) business records; (8) public records; (18) admissions; (22) former testimony.
- Florida-specific: (23) statement of a child victim and (24) statement of an elderly person or disabled adult — each requires a reliability hearing and pretrial notice.
- Federal parallel: Fed. R. Evid. 803 covers the same core categories; Florida’s (23)/(24) and its treatment of admissions (18) differ from the federal structure.
Federal Parallel
The federal counterpart is Fed. R. Evid. 803, which lists most of the same exceptions (present sense impression, excited utterance, medical diagnosis, business and public records, etc.). Florida folds party admissions into 90.803(18), while the federal rules treat them as non-hearsay under FRE 801(d)(2); and Florida’s child-victim and elderly/disabled-adult exceptions have no direct FRE analog.
About this rule walkthrough
Part of The Evidence Code, hosted by John M. Phillips — Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, Court TV analyst, admitted in 8 states + 9 federal districts + SCOTUS.
Free consultation: (904) 444-4444 · About John Phillips
Educational only — not legal advice.
Rule Text (verbatim from the Florida Supreme Court)
The provision of s. 90.802 to the contrary notwithstanding, the following are not inadmissible as evidence, even though the declarant is available as a witness:
(1) SPONTANEOUS STATEMENT.—A spontaneous statement describing or explaining an event or condition made while the declarant was perceiving the event or condition, or immediately thereafter, except when such statement is made under circumstances that indicate its lack of trustworthiness.
(2) EXCITED UTTERANCE.—A statement or excited utterance relating to a startling event or condition made while the declarant was under the stress of excitement caused by the event or condition.
(3) THEN-EXISTING MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, OR PHYSICAL CONDITION.—(a) A statement of the declarant’s then-existing state of mind, emotion, or physical sensation, including a statement of intent, plan, motive, design, mental feeling, pain, or bodily health, when offered to prove the declarant’s state of mind at that or another relevant time, or to prove or explain subsequent conduct of the declarant. (b) This does not make admissible an after-the-fact statement of memory or belief to prove the fact remembered (except as to a will), or a statement made under circumstances indicating lack of trustworthiness.
(4) STATEMENTS FOR PURPOSES OF MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS OR TREATMENT.—Statements made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment by a person seeking the diagnosis or treatment, or by one with knowledge legally responsible for a person unable to communicate, describing medical history, past or present symptoms, pain, or sensations, or the inception or general character of the cause or external source, insofar as reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment.
(5) RECORDED RECOLLECTION.—A memorandum or record concerning a matter about which a witness once had knowledge but now has insufficient recollection to testify fully and accurately, shown to have been made by the witness when the matter was fresh and to reflect that knowledge correctly. It may be read into evidence but is not admissible as an exhibit unless offered by an adverse party.
(6) RECORDS OF REGULARLY CONDUCTED BUSINESS ACTIVITY.—(a) A memorandum, report, record, or data compilation of acts, events, conditions, opinion, or diagnosis, made at or near the time by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity and if it was the regular practice of that business to make it, as shown by the testimony of the custodian or other qualified witness or by a certification under paragraph (c) and s. 90.902(11), unless the sources or circumstances show lack of trustworthiness. “Business” includes every kind of business, institution, association, profession, occupation, and calling, whether or not for profit. (b) Opinion or diagnosis is admissible only if it would be admissible under ss. 90.701-90.705. (c) A party offering by certification must serve reasonable written notice and make the evidence available for inspection in advance; objections must be raised by pretrial motion or are waived absent good cause.
(7) ABSENCE OF ENTRY IN RECORDS OF REGULARLY CONDUCTED ACTIVITY.—Evidence that a matter is not included in such records, to prove its nonoccurrence or nonexistence, if the matter was of a kind regularly recorded and preserved, unless the sources or circumstances show lack of trustworthiness.
(8) PUBLIC RECORDS AND REPORTS.—Records, reports, statements, or data compilations of public offices or agencies setting forth the office’s activities, or matters observed under a legal duty to report (excluding, in criminal cases, matters observed by police or law enforcement), unless the sources or circumstances show lack of trustworthiness. The criminal exclusion does not apply to affidavits admissible under s. 316.1934 or s. 327.354.
(9) RECORDS OF VITAL STATISTICS.—Records of births, fetal deaths, deaths, or marriages, if a report was made to a public office as required by law.
(10) ABSENCE OF PUBLIC RECORD OR ENTRY.—Certification or testimony that a diligent search failed to disclose a public record, offered to prove its absence or the nonoccurrence/nonexistence of a regularly recorded matter.
(11) RECORDS OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.—Statements of personal or family history in a regularly kept record of a religious organization.
(12) MARRIAGE, BAPTISMAL, AND SIMILAR CERTIFICATES.—Statements of fact in a certificate that the maker performed a marriage, ceremony, or sacrament, certified by an authorized person at or within a reasonable time of the act.
(13) FAMILY RECORDS.—Statements of personal or family history in family Bibles, charts, engravings in rings, inscriptions on portraits, urns, crypts, or tombstones, or the like.
(14) RECORDS OF DOCUMENTS AFFECTING AN INTEREST IN PROPERTY.—The record of a document purporting to establish or affect an interest in property, as proof of the contents and execution and delivery, if a record of a public office authorized by statute.
(15) STATEMENTS IN DOCUMENTS AFFECTING AN INTEREST IN PROPERTY.—A statement in such a document, if relevant to the document’s purpose, unless later dealings are inconsistent with its truth.
(16) STATEMENTS IN ANCIENT DOCUMENTS.—Statements in a document in existence 20 years or more whose authenticity is established.
(17) MARKET REPORTS, COMMERCIAL PUBLICATIONS.—Market quotations, tabulations, lists, directories, or other published compilations generally relied upon by the public or persons in particular occupations, if the court finds the sources and method of preparation justify admission.
(18) ADMISSIONS.—A statement offered against a party that is: (a) the party’s own statement; (b) one the party adopted or believed true; (c) one by a person authorized by the party to speak on the subject; (d) one by the party’s agent or servant within the scope of the relationship, made during its existence; or (e) one by a coconspirator during and in furtherance of the conspiracy (with the conspiracy and participation shown by independent evidence on request).
(19) REPUTATION CONCERNING PERSONAL OR FAMILY HISTORY.—Reputation among family, associates, or in the community concerning birth, adoption, marriage, divorce, death, ancestry, or similar family history.
(20) REPUTATION CONCERNING BOUNDARIES OR GENERAL HISTORY.—Reputation in a community, arising before the controversy, about land boundaries or customs, or about events of general history important to the community, state, or nation.
(21) REPUTATION AS TO CHARACTER.—Reputation of a person’s character among associates or in the community.
(22) FORMER TESTIMONY.—Testimony given by the declarant as a witness at another hearing or in a lawful deposition, if the party against whom it is offered (or, in a civil case, a predecessor or person with similar interest) had an opportunity and similar motive to develop it, provided the court finds it is not inadmissible under s. 90.402 or s. 90.403.
(23) STATEMENT OF CHILD VICTIM.—An out-of-court statement by a child victim (developmental age 17 or less) describing child abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, or related offenses is admissible in any civil or criminal proceeding if the court finds, at a hearing outside the jury’s presence, that the time, content, and circumstances provide sufficient safeguards of reliability, and the child either testifies or is unavailable with other corroborative evidence. In a criminal action, the defendant must be given notice no later than 10 days before trial, and the court must make specific findings of fact on the record.
(24) STATEMENT OF ELDERLY PERSON OR DISABLED ADULT.—An out-of-court statement by an elderly person or disabled adult (as defined in s. 825.101) describing abuse, neglect, exploitation, battery, assault, sexual battery, or other violent act is admissible if the court finds sufficient safeguards of reliability at a hearing and the declarant is unavailable with corroborative evidence. The defendant must be given notice no later than 10 days before trial, and the court must make specific findings of fact on the record.
Educational reference. Educational only — not legal advice.
What this rule means in plain English
Section 90.803 lists 24 hearsay exceptions that apply even when the declarant is available, including spontaneous statements, excited utterances, statements for medical diagnosis, business records, public records, admissions, former testimony, and Florida-specific child-victim and elderly/disabled-adult exceptions.