ELEMENTS OF PROOF OF BUSINESS RECORD ADMISSIBILITY
FEDERAL RULE OF EVIDENCE 803(6)
Records of regularly conducted activity. (Elements of proof)
- 1. A memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, in any form, . . .
- 2. . . . of acts, events, conditions, opinions, or diagnoses, . . .
- 3. . . . made at or near the time [of the acts, events, existence of the conditions, expressions of the opinions, or rendering of the diagnoses] . . .
- 4. . . . by, or from information transmitted by, a person with [first hand] knowledge [of the acts, events, conditions, opinions, or diagnoses], . . .
- 5. . . . if [said memorandum, etc. was] kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity, . . .
- 6. . . . and if it was the regular practice of that business activity to make the memorandum, report, record, or data compilation. . . .
- 7. . . . all shown by the testimony of the custodian or other qualified witness. . . .
Simplistically, the witness must be able to respond positively to a series of simple questions that cover each above-listed element, one at a time, for the documents being authenticated (i.e., “Were these laboratory notes made at or near the time of the observations recorded in the notes?”).