NE LB789

Amends Nebraska Evidence Rules section 27-804 to add a new hearsay exception allowing statements from unavailable witnesses to be admitted against a party who wrongfully caused or acquiesced in causing the declarant's unavailability

Requires that the party must have acted with intent to make the declarant unavailable as a witness for the exception to apply

Codifies the "forfeiture by wrongdoing" doctrine, which prevents parties from benefiting from their own misconduct in silencing witnesses

Updates gendered language throughout section 27-804, replacing "his," "him," and "man" with gender-neutral terms like "the declarant's," "the declarant," and "person"

Introduced by Senator Bosn (District 25) on January 7, 2026, during the 109th Legislature's second session