Hearsay is a statement that (i) is made other than at the trial or proceeding at which it is offered and (ii) is offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted by the maker of the statement, the declarant.

Cf. United States v. Pirovolos, 844 F.2d 415, 422-423 (7th Cir. 1988) (upholding trial court's ruling which allowed government's questions on the presence of other weapons at accused's restaurant; held, "when accused chose to rely on self-defense as an affirmative defense, he placed his intent in...If a criminal defendant offers evidence of his or her character circumstantially - to show he or she did not commit the crime charged -- the prosecution can offer rebutting evidence of defendant's character.

United States v. MacCloskey, 682 F.2d 468, 478-479 (4th Cir. 1982) (reversing conviction for conspiracy to murder a DEA special agent and remanding for new trial the charge of conspiracy to obstruct the administration of....For purposes of the hearsay exceptions created by Federal Rule of Evidence 804 or a comparable State rule, a declarant is "unavailable" within the meaning of Rule 804(a) or a comparable State rule if the declarant persists in refusing to testify concerning the subject matter of the declarant's statement despite an order of the court to do so; but a declarant is not "unavailable" if the declarant's refusal is due to the procurement or wrongdoing of the proponent of a statement for the purpose of preventing the witness from attending or testifying.

Trammel v. United States, 445 U.S. 40, pin? (1980) (Court rejects the former rule that accused is holder of the privilege and holds that testifying spouse is the holder; Court justifies the new rule by criticizing as sexist the alleged superannuated predicate of the former...In a criminal trial the spouse of the defendant has a privilege not to testify at the trial of the defendant or the defendant has a privilege to prevent a spouse from testifying. This privilege is called, variously, the marital privilege, the marital testimony privilege, or the adverse spousal testimony privilege.