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Under F.R.Evid. 801, hearsay is defined as 'a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.' Most definitions are substantially similar. In United States v. Williamson, 5 Cir., 1971, 450 F.2d 585, 589, cert. denied, 405 U.S. 1026, 92 S. Ct. 1297, 31 L. Ed. 2d 486, the court defined 'hearsay' as any out-of-court statement introduced in evidence for the purpose of proving the truth of the matter contained in the statement. [Citing McCormick, Evidence (3d Ed.) § 228; 5 Wigmore, Evidence (3d Ed.) § 1361]. Most if not all of the mystery and fog enshrouding this traditionally enigmatic rule of evidence evaporate if that textbook definition, well entrenched in case law, is kept in mind. Most significantly, . . . it demolishes the fairly wide-spread misconception that somehow words alone, if they are not the words of the person testifying, must automatically be excluded. Words are not hearsay unless they constitute statements, and out-of-court statements are themselves not hearsay unless they are introduced for the purpose of proving facts contained in, or asserted by, those statements. See also ALI, ...
