Pro Bono: Capturing Dying Declarations on Video

Should we get them on video?

Dying declarations are usually made by a conscious patient who believes that death is imminent and communicates information about the circumstances surrounding their critical injury and subsequent death. In some cases, these statements may be the last best hope for capturing-and convicting-an alleged perpetrator.
Normally, statements made by individuals who aren't available for cross-examination are considered inadmissible hearsay in a court of law. However, there are exceptions to this rule, and a person's dying declaration is one of them.
These statements are considered much more reliable than typical hearsay because: 1) it may be the only evidence available from the sole eyewitness to the incident; and 2) when in fear of imminent death, the patient is presumed to lose the motivation to lie.
In May 2016, JEMS published an article by Kristin Spencer and Andrew Fulkerson describing the circumstances in which a patient's dying declaration may be admissible as legal evidence.1 The article provided excellent pointers on how to accurately document these patient statements in your patient care report (PCR).
But what about obtaining video of a patient statement? Federal and state courts have specific rules and procedures for the introduction of video evidence to ensure its reliability, but they'll generally allow these videos to be admissible as evidence when they're relevant to the case and deemed to be reliable and non-prejudicia...

Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - December 1, 2017 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Steve Wirth, Esq., EMT-P Tags: Columns Patient Care Administration and Leadership Source Type: news