-330-
807, Federal Rules of Evidence, provides that a statement not
specifically covered by the hearsay exceptions of rules 803 or
804, Federal Rules of Evidence, but having equivalent
circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness, is not excluded by
the hearsay rule, if the Court determines: (a) The statement is
offered as evidence of a material fact; (b) the statement is more
probative on the point for which it is offered than any other
evidence which the proponent can procure through reasonable
efforts; and (c) the general purposes of the Federal Rules of
Evidence and the interests of justice will best be served by
admission of the statement into evidence.225 To ensure that this
“residual exception” to the hearsay rule does not emasculate the
body of law underlying the Federal Rules of Evidence, it is to be
used very rarely and only in exceptional circumstances.
Goldsmith v. Commissioner, 86 T.C. 1134, 1140 (1986); Gaw v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-531.
We are not persuaded that Mr. Jouannet’s response to Mr.
Lerner’s letter has circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness
equivalent to those in the other hearsay exceptions. Mr.
Jouannet’s response was made to Mr. Lerner’s inquiry regarding
CDR’s intentions in its transaction with the Ackerman group. The
response appears to have been written as an accommodation to Mr.
225 Petitioner, as the proponent of this evidence, must show
that each of these requirements is met. See Little v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1996-270.
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