When admissible, the testimony of any witness given in any court at any former trial between the same parties or their privies and involving the same issue or claim for relief may be proved by the duly certified transcript thereof.
Rule 80.Admissibility of Testimony at Prior Trial
Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceRule 80 lets a party prove what a witness said at an earlier trial between the same parties, or their privies, on the same issue by offering a duly certified transcript, once that former testimony is otherwise admissible.
Full Text of Rule 80
Reporter's Notes
Reporter’s Notes to Rule 80: 1. Rule 80 is a slightly revised version of FRCP 80. Superseded Ark. Stat. Ann. § 28-713 (Repl. 1962) contained the grounds for admitting former testimony although Rule 804 of the Uniform Rules of Evidence now contains such grounds. The question, therefore, as to when former testimony is admissible is determined by Rule 804. When it is admissible, it is proved under this rule.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 80 is a proof mechanism, not an admissibility test. It does not decide whether testimony from an earlier trial can come into evidence at all -- that question is answered elsewhere, under the rules governing former testimony as an exception to the general bar on hearsay. What Rule 80 supplies is the method once admissibility is settled: a certified transcript of the earlier testimony is how the party gets it before the court, rather than, say, calling a witness to recount from memory what someone else said at a prior proceeding.
The rule limits itself to testimony from a former trial involving the same parties or their privies and the same issue or claim for relief. That framing keeps the rule from becoming a shortcut for importing testimony from unrelated litigation just because it happens to touch a related topic -- the earlier case has to line up with the current one on both who was involved and what was being litigated.
In practice this comes up most often on retrial after a reversal or mistrial, or in a second suit between the same parties over closely related claims, where a witness from the first trial is unavailable, and the certified transcript of that earlier testimony stands in for live testimony.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Rule 80 decide whether testimony from an earlier trial can be used?
No. Admissibility of former testimony is governed by the evidence rules covering that hearsay exception. Rule 80 only tells you how to put admissible former testimony before the court -- through a certified transcript.
What counts as a "prior trial" for purposes of this rule?
Any former trial, in any court, where a witness gave testimony, so long as that trial involved the same parties or their privies and the same issue or claim for relief as the current case.
Who counts as the "same parties or their privies"?
The rule does not define privies beyond ordinary usage -- parties bound by or benefiting from the same legal relationship or interest as an original party, such as a successor in interest, rather than a stranger to the earlier litigation.
How do I prove what a witness said at the earlier trial?
By offering a duly certified transcript of that testimony, once it is otherwise admissible under the applicable evidence rules.
Does Rule 80 cover deposition testimony, or only trial testimony?
The rule is limited to testimony "given in any court at any former trial." Deposition testimony is addressed separately, chiefly under the rules governing use of depositions in court proceedings.
Source & verification. Rule text, Reporter's Notes, and amendment
history are reproduced verbatim from the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, prescribed by
the Arkansas Supreme Court. The plain-English summary is original and written by us.
Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: former testimonyprior trial transcriptcertified transcript evidencesame parties or priviesadmissibility of prior testimony