Provide an exclusion from the hearsay rule for a statement offered against a party that wrongfully caused the declarant's unavailability

This Nebraska bill (LB 789) amends evidence rules to allow certain witness statements in court when a party (like a defendant) wrongfully caused the witness to become unavailable. Specifically, it adds an exception to the hearsay rule: if a party intentionally made a witness unavailable (e.g., through threats or harm) to prevent testimony, statements made by that witness can now be used against them. This affects legal cases where witness unavailability was caused by the opposing party’s misconduct. The change streamlines courtroom procedures by permitting such statements as evidence without requiring the usual hearsay exceptions.