M.R. Evid. 804

(a) Criteria for being unavailable. A declarant is considered to be

unavailable as a witness if the declarant:

(1) Is exempted from testifying about the subject matter of the

declarant’s statement because the court rules that a privilege

applies;

(2) Refuses to testify about the subject matter despite a court order to

do so;

(3) Testifies to not remembering the subject matter;

(4) Cannot be present or testify at the trial or hearing because of death

or a then-existing infirmity, physical illness, or mental illness; or

(5) Is absent from the trial or hearing and the statement’s proponent

has not been able, by process or other reasonable means, to

procure the declarant’s attendance.

But this subdivision (a) does not apply if the statement’s proponent

procured or wrongfully caused the declarant’s unavailability as a witness

in order to prevent the declarant from attending or testifying.

(b) The exceptions. The following are not excluded by the rule against

hearsay if the declarant is unavailable as a witness:

(1) Former Testimony. Testimony that:

(A) Was given as a witness at a trial, hearing, or lawful

deposition, whether given during the current proceeding or

a different one; and

(B) Is now offered against a party who had—or, in a civil case,

whose predecessor in interest had—an opportunity and

similar motive to develop it by direct, cross-, or redirect

examination.

(2) Statement under the belief of imminent death. A statement that the

declarant, while believing the declarant’s death to be imminent,

made about its cause or circumstances.

(3) Statement against interest. A statement—except, in a criminal case,

for a statement or confession made by a defendant or other person

implicating both the declarant and the accused that is offered

against the accused—that:

(A) A reasonable person in the declarant’s position would have

made only if the person believed it to be true because, when

made, it was so contrary to the declarant’s pecuniary or

proprietary interest, or so far tended to subject the declarant

to civil or criminal liability or to render invalid a claim by the

declarant against another, or to make the declarant an object

of hatred, ridicule, or disgrace; and

(B) Is supported by corroborating circumstances that clearly

indicate its trustworthiness, if it is offered in a criminal case

as one that tends to expose the declarant to criminal liability.

(4) Statement of personal or family history. A statement about:

(A) The declarant’s own birth, adoption, legitimacy, ancestry,

marriage, divorce, relationship by blood, adoption, or

marriage, or similar facts of personal or family history, even

though the declarant had no way of acquiring personal

knowledge about that fact; or

(B) Another person concerning any of these facts, as well as

death, if the declarant was related to the person by blood,

adoption, or marriage or was so intimately associated with

the person’s family that the declarant’s information is likely

to be accurate.