INTRODUCTION
Res gestae describes a common-law doctrine governing
testimony. Under the hearsay rule, a court normally refuses to admit
as evidence statements that a witness says he or she heard another person say.
The doctrine of res gestae provided an exception to this rule. During the
nineteenth century and much of the twentieth century, courts applied the
exception by following an assortment of common-law rules. With the introduction
of the Federal Rule of Evidence, federal courts abolished res gestae
as a common-law doctrine and replaced it with explicit exceptions to the ban on
hearsay. To varying degrees, state Rules
of Evidence are modeled on the federal rules. Although the term is
now infrequently used, the legacy of res gestae is an integral part of the
modern framework of hearsay evidence.
