... charged with theft of the book this statement is relevant, but the hearsay rule will prevent the prosecution calling W to testify that he heard W say this, since the purpose of doing so is to ask the court to accept that the facts stated in X's statement are true, namely that D did take the book without paying. The rule thus obliges the prosecution to call X as a witness to give direct evidence that she saw D take the book.2 Reasons in favour of Hearsay rules Why do we need a rule that prevents or restricts evidence being given by anyone? * Ambiguity of Narration Language is ambiguous and several meanings can often be ascribed to the same word. It may be that only the maker of the statement knows what he meant when he used the particular words in question. * Insincerity There might be reason to doubt the sincerity of the statement ...

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