Which hearsay exception covers the absence of a public record?

• A. Recorded recollection
• B. Records of regularly conducted activity
• C. Statements in learned treatises
• D. Absence of a public record

Answer: (D)

There is a specific hearsay exception that allows you to prove that a public record does not exist or that a particular entry is missing. This rule applies when a public office or agency would normally keep records in the course of its business, and showing that no entry exists helps establish a fact in dispute. That’s why this option is the best answer here: it directly addresses the absence of a public record.

The other options cover different evidentiary purposes. Recorded recollection deals with a witness’s memory that is aided by a recorded document, not with proving that a record is absent. Records of regularly conducted activity encompass routine entries that do exist in ordinary business records, not the nonexistence of a record. Statements in learned treatises concern the authority or reliability of scholarly writings, not the absence of government records.