Well I had a big lunch, my insulin pump couldn’t keep up.

I need to correct myself. The messages would be admissible either way having nothing to do with hearsay. The messages are direct, documented evidence on their phones. As you pointed out the statements made (or not made) in the car, absent video, audio, or a third party, could only have been available from the 2 parties statements and therefore needed both parties to be available in court to be entered.

No. Hearsay is when person A claims person B made a statement when person B is not available in court to be cross examined. The messages were admitted as evidence and were a main point in the defenses’ argument. They were admissible because the messages were between the 2 parties to the lawsuit, therefore both were available to be questioned.

“Ward consistently maintained that the encounter was “wholly consensual”. His defense highlighted that the two exchanged friendly messages afterward and that the woman gave no indication she wanted to leave the vehicle during their interaction.”

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Right. As opposed to you, who is clearly a stellar example of empathy and humanity.