Laying Foundation for Evidence Under Business Records Exception

Business records often hold significant weight in trial court cases. Their introduction as evidence can be pivotal for your case, and the Rules of Evidence permit their inclusion, stating that they’re not disregarded due to hearsay, even if the person who made the statement is available as a witness. However, before these records can be admitted, you must establish that they meet certain criteria. There are four key elements to consider:

1. The record was created and maintained as part of regular business operations.
2. It’s a record routinely produced in the normal course of business.
3. The record was made around the time of the event it documents.
4. The record was created by someone knowledgeable or from information provided by a knowledgeable source in the regular course of business.

The witness who attests to these elements could be the record custodian or another qualified individual familiar with these records. This person need not have personal knowledge of the content but should understand the procedures for creating and maintaining the records.

For instance, in a case where invoices were crucial, a court rightfully excluded them because the custodian failed to explain their creation, especially if many were reprints or not made at the time of the charges.

The focus under this rule lies in when and how the documents were created, their reliability, and their alignment with regular business practices. For example, if a husband presented monthly internet bills as evidence of his wife’s usage, but his testimony didn’t meet the criteria mentioned earlier, the court rightfully excluded them.

Whether these records are maintained digitally or otherwise doesn’t impose additional criteria for admission. The important factor is the firsthand knowledge of the person generating the information, not necessarily the one recording it.

For example, a trial court properly admitted an inspection report even though the testifying custodian wasn’t the inspector who conducted the inspection, as long as adequate authentication was provided.

However, if a record includes a statement from someone outside the business and is used to prove a fact, it might be considered hearsay and inadmissible unless it falls under an exception.

When third-party-generated records become part of a business’s files, their admission might not necessitate the expert’s testimony if certain conditions are met, like regular reliance on these records by the business.

Ultimately, objections about inaccuracies or incompleteness in records affect their weight as evidence rather than their admissibility. Proof based on the absence of entries in business records and the admissibility of public records are separate topics.