In United States law, a statement against penal interest is a statement that puts the statement-maker at risk of prosecution. It is the criminal equivalent of a statement against interest, a statement a person would not normally make, which would put them in a disadvantaged position that they would have had if they had not made the statement in the first place.
In certain circumstances, it can be a factor in allowing as evidence statements that would otherwise be excluded through the law of hearsay.
References
- See Fed. R. Evid. 804(b)(4), available at https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre
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