Legal Definition and Related Resources of Dying Declaration

These are statements of material facts concerning the cause and circumstances of the homicide made by the victim under the fixed and solemn belief that his death is inevitable and near at hand, without any hope of recovery . Such statements are admissible in evidence on the principle that they are declarations made in extremity, when the party is at the point of death, and when every hope of this world is gone; when every motive to falsehood is silenced, and the mind is induced by the most powerful considerations to speak the truth . Pettigrew v state , (Okl. Crim.) 554 P.2d 1186. Even though such statement is admissible, it must be restricted to the act of killing and to the circumstances immediately attending same and form a part of the ÔÔres gestae’-, as to who were the actors, where it occurred, the positions of the persons, what was said by the parties , the instrument or weapon used, and how the homicide was committed. See State v Baldwin, 45 N. W. 297, 79 Iowa 714.

Browse or run a search for Dying Declaration in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

Dying Declaration in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Dying Declaration in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Dying Declaration in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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Mentioned in these terms

Death Bed Declarations.

See also

A statement by a dying person, who has been injured by another… (Read more)

Dying declaration in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of dying declaration.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Policeman
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• dying declaration in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• dying declaration in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

English Legal System: Dying Declaration

In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Dying Declaration : An oral or written statement by a person on the point of death concerning the cause of his death. A dying declaration is admissible at a trial for the murder or the manslaughter of the declarant as an exception to the rule against *hearsay evidence, provided that he would have been a competent witness had he survived (See competence). Case law requires that the person making the dying declaration must have had a “settled, hopeless expectation of death”.