Trump Admits He Oversaw Pay for Executive Who Got Fishy Perks
In most states and in the federal judicial system, grand juries can consider evidence that’s deemed hearsay, otherwise defined as statements made out of court. (The downside is that those jurors can’t observe a person’s physical demeanor or gestures to gauge how to accurately interpret what they’re saying.) Meanwhile, grand juries in New York typically only consider something if a witness comes in person and testifies under oath.
However, three former prosecutors told The Daily Beast that New York allows for a narrow exception: hearsay is allowed if a person is essentially self-incriminating.
“Statements made in a civil deposition are admissible in a criminal proceeding against the person who made the statement. That’s why people can invoke their Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination at civil proceedings as well as criminal,” said Adam Kaufmann, a partner at the law firm of Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss who previously served as chief of the Manhattan DA’s investigative division.