Hearsay

MBE hearsay questions force a two-step march: first decide whether the statement is hearsay at all, then — only if it is — hunt for an exception. The “tell” is a quoted out-of-court statement plus a stated purpose; the trap is jumping straight to an exception and missing that the statement isn’t offered for its truth (notice, effect on listener, verbal act, or circumstantial state of mind). A second tell is “hearsay within hearsay” (FRE 805) — a record reporting a bystander’s remark needs an exception for each layer.

Don’t confuse the FRE 801(d) “statements that are not hearsay” category (opposing-party statements and certain prior statements by a testifying declarant, each with its own conditions — a prior inconsistent statement must have been under oath) with true exceptions (FRE 803/804); examiners reward the label. Note the confession overlap: it’s an opposing-party statement, so its bar is constitutional (voluntariness, Miranda), not hearsay. And keep relevance logically prior — irrelevant evidence never reaches the hearsay question. Memory hook: “Why is it offered?” answered first defeats most distractors.