What is required for a declaration against interest to be admissible in court?

For a declaration against interest to be admissible in court, the key requirement is that the declarant must be unavailable. This aligns with the rules governing hearsay exceptions, where a declaration against interest is considered an exception that allows statements made by an unavailable declarant to be admissible in evidence.

The rationale behind this requirement is that declarations against interest are seen as inherently credible, as they are statements that go against the personal interests of the declarant at the time they were made. However, for a court to accept such a statement, it must be established that the person who made that declaration is not available to testify due to circumstances like death, illness, or absence.

In contrast, the other options do not align with the legal framework for hearsay exceptions. The declarant’s motive to lie, presence in court, or the necessity for the statement to be corroborated are not general prerequisites for this type of declaration to be admissible. Therefore, the unavailability of the declarant ensures that the evidence presented is based on credible declarations that cannot be contested by the declarant's live testimony.