11 Dec What is hearsay and why would a family or juvenile dependency court judge allow it in as evidence?
Hearsay is essentially rumor. For example, I heard your momma say that you forgot to pick up your child from kindergarten at noon. Judges usually don’t allow hearsay in as evidence if your momma isn’t there to substantiate what I just testified to and be questioned by you. Maybe you did forget, maybe you only forgot one day, maybe you never forgot, maybe you came after school one day to pick up your child because you forgot that kindergarteners get out of school at noon. You get the picture.
Even though there are at least 30 exceptions to the hearsay rules, which allow judges to use hearsay as evidence against the accused, the California legislature took it a step toooo far and reduced the standard of evidence in family and juvenile dependency courts soooo low, that all hearsay (and double hearsay, triple hearsay, etc. ) is allowed in these courts to be used as evidence against you in regards to taking custody of your child away from you. The vague, thus unconstitutional, “best interest of the child” standard of evidence.
As a witness against you, I could even testify in one of these courts that the husband of a neighbor of your momma, heard her say, that you told her, that you forgot to pick up your child from kindergarten at noon. Most likely you will not hear anyone on your side tell me to stop talking, or even raise a hearsay objection to the judge asking him/her to tell me to stop talking even though my testimony is triple hearsay. What you most likely will see happen, is that the judge will look at you and ask you why you forgot to pick up your child from kindergarten, #PreventUGI (unwarranted governmental interference).
The members of the organization that controls the family and juvenile dependency courts, the AFCCnet, or the “Association of Family and Conciliation Courts” made up up judges, attorneys, psychologists, social workers, child custody evaluators, etc. thrive on hearsay in these courtrooms.
I guarantee you, that if you had one of these AFCC psychologists (ordered by a judge) evaluate you… their written report (another problem covered in a different blog) submitted to the judge to be used as evidence against you…..contained hearsay, double hearsay or even triple hearsay, #NoAFCC