CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES; EVIDENCE – Hearsay

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Testimony regarding an out-of-court statement that is not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted is not hearsay. (People v. Sanchez, supra, 63 Cal.4th at p. 674; People v. Superior Court (Couthren) (2019) 41 Cal.App.5th 1001, 1019.) “Where the fact that a particular statement was made is of itself a relevant fact, regardless of the truth or falsity of such statement, the statement is admissible in evidence as an independently relevant fact[,]” and the hearsay rule does not apply because the statement is akin to a verbal act. (Store of Happiness v. Carmona & Allen, Inc. (1957) 152 Cal.App.2d 266, 274; see Smith v. Whittier (1892) 95 Cal. 279, 293-294 [“If the fact sought to be established is that certain words were spoken, without reference to the truth or falsity of the words, . . . the testimony of any person who heard the statement is original evidence, and not hearsay”].) (p. 20.)