US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

1230.  Evidence of a statement by a declarant having sufficient
knowledge of the subject is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule
if the declarant is unavailable as a witness and the statement, when
made, was so far contrary to the declarant's pecuniary or
proprietary interest, or so far subjected him to the risk of civil or
criminal liability, or so far tended to render invalid a claim by
him against another, or created such a risk of making him an object
of hatred, ridicule, or social disgrace in the community, that a
reasonable man in his position would not have made the statement
unless he believed it to be true.