KATHRYN GERSON, AS MOTHER, NATURAL GUARDIAN AND NEXT OF KIN OF CHARLES HARDEMAN AND MATHEW HARDEMAN, HEIRS AT LAW OF JOHN V. HARDEMAN, III, DECEASED, APPELLANT,
v.
RUTH A. HAINES, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF GAIL ANN HARDEMAN, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that an admission regarding the order of deaths in a perpetrator's confession was inadmissible hearsay and not an exception to the hearsay rule as an admission against penal interest.
The trial court prevented the descent and distribution of two decedent's estates based on an admission in the perpetrator's confession regarding the o…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Descent And Distribution cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
We find that the trial court erred in preventing descent and distribution of two decedent’s estates contrary to Sec. 732.- 601(4) Florida Statutes (1979), in re: simultaneous deaths. The only “evidence” as to the order of death was an admission in the confession of the perpetrator of the homicides.
We hold that this admission was collateral to the declarant’s admission against penal interest, to wit: the shooting of the two victims. The order of shooting as stated in the confession was hearsay and not subject to the exception to the hearsay rule as an admission against penal interest. United States v. Marquez, 462 F. 2d 893 (2nd Cir. 1972); United States v. Seyfried, 435 F. 2d 696 (7th Cir.1970); People v. Leach, 15 Cal.3d 419, 124 Cal.Rptr. 752, 541 P. 2d 296 (1975); State v. Self, 88 N.M. 37, 536 P. 2d 1093 (1975).
Therefore the final judgment under review is reversed with directions to permit descent and distribution in accordance with Sec. 732.601(4) Florida Statutes (1979).
Reversed and remanded with directions.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- United States v. Cary Levon Seyfried, 435 F.2d 696 (7th Cir. 1970)
- United States v. Arnaldo Marquez and Humberto Rivero, 462 F.2d 893 (2d Cir. 1972)