FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE
Effective July 1, 1975, as amended to December 1, 2007
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Article IX Authentication And Identification (Fed. Rules Evid. 901-903)
Rule 901(a)
Requirement Of Authentication Or Identification: General provision
Rule 901(b) Requirement Of
Authentication Or Identification: Illustrations
Rule 902 Self-Authentication
Rule 903 Subscribing Witness'
Testimony Unnecessary
FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE
Effective July 1, 1975, as amended to December 1, 2007
Rule 901(a) Requirement Of Authentication Or Identification: General Provision
The requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.
History:
(Jan. 2, 1975, P.L. 93-595, § 1, 88 Stat. 1943.)
FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE
Effective July 1, 1975, as amended to December 1, 2007
Rule 901(b) Requirement Of Authentication Or Identification: Illustrations
By way of illustration only, and
not by way of limitation, the following are examples of authentication or
identification conforming with the requirements of this rule:
(1) Testimony of witness with knowledge. Testimony that a
matter is what it is claimed to be.
(2) Nonexpert opinion on handwriting. Nonexpert opinion as to
the genuineness of handwriting, based upon familiarity not acquired for purposes
of the litigation.
(3) Comparison by trier or expert witness. Comparison by the
trier of fact or by expert witnesses with specimens which have been
authenticated.
(4) Distinctive characteristics and the like. Appearance,
contents, substance, internal patterns, or other distinctive characteristics,
taken in conjunction with circumstances.(5) Voice identification. Identification
of a voice, whether heard firsthand or through mechanical or electronic
transmission or recording, by opinion based upon hearing the voice at any time
under circumstances connecting it with the alleged speaker.
(6) Telephone conversations. Telephone conversations, by
evidence that a call was made to the number assigned at the time by the
telephone company to a particular person or business, if (A) in the case of a
person, circumstances, including self-identification, show the person answering
to be the one called, or (B) in the case of a business, the call was made to a
place of business and the conversation related to business reasonably transacted
over the telephone.
(7) Public records or reports. Evidence that a writing
authorized by law to be recorded or filed and in fact recorded or filed in a
public office, or a purported public record, report, statement, or data
compilation, in any form, is from the public office where items of this nature
are kept.
(8) Ancient documents or data compilation. Evidence that a
document or data compilation, in any form, (A) is in such condition as to create
no suspicion concerning its authenticity, (B) was in a place where it, if
authentic, would likely be, and (C) has been in existence 20 years or more at
the time it is offered.
(9) Process or system. Evidence describing a process or
system used to produce a result and showing that the process or system produces
an accurate result.
(10) Methods provided by statute or rule. Any method of
authentication or identification provided by Act of Congress or by other rules
prescribed by the Supreme Court pursuant to statutory authority.
History:
(Jan. 2, 1975, P.L. 93-595, § 1, 88 Stat. 1943.)
Related FORECITE National™ Materials:
See FORECITE National™ 30.1 [Lay Or Non Expert Opinion Testimony].
See also FORECITE National™ 32.2.2 [Improper To Characterize Prosecution Witness As Fingerprint "Expert"].
See FORECITE National™ 32.1.1 [Voice Identification: Subject To Same Consideration As Eyewitness Identification].
FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE
Effective July 1, 1975, as amended to December 1, 2007
Rule 902 Self-Authentication
Extrinsic evidence of authenticity as a condition precedent
to admissibility is not required with respect to the following:
(1) Domestic public documents under seal. A document bearing
a seal purporting to be that of the United States, or of any State, district,
Commonwealth, territory, or insular possession thereof, or the Panama Canal
Zone, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or of a political
subdivision, department, officer, or agency thereof, and a signature purporting
to be an attestation or execution.
(2) Domestic public documents not under seal. A document
purporting to bear the signature in the official capacity of an officer or
employee of any entity included in paragraph (1) hereof, having no seal, if a
public officer having a seal and having official duties in the district or
political subdivision of the officer or employee certifies under seal that the
signer has the official capacity and that the signature is genuine.
(3) Foreign public documents. A document purporting to be
executed or attested in an official capacity by a person authorized by the laws
of a foreign country to make the execution or attestation, and accompanied by a
final certification as to the genuineness of the signature and official position
(A) of the executing or attesting person, or (B) of any foreign official whose
certificate of genuineness of signature and official position relates to the
execution or attestation or is in a chain of certificates of genuineness of
signature and official position relating to the execution or attestation. A
final certification may be made by a secretary of an embassy or legation, consul
general, consul, vice consul, or consular agent of the United States, or a
diplomatic or consular official of the foreign country assigned or accredited to
the United States. If reasonable opportunity has been given to all parties to
investigate the authenticity and accuracy of official documents, the court may,
for good cause shown, order that they be treated as presumptively authentic
without final certification or permit them to be evidenced by an attested
summary with or without final certification.
(4) Certified copies of public records. A copy of an official
record or report or entry therein, or of a document authorized by law to be
recorded or filed and actually recorded or filed in a public office, including
data compilations in any form, certified as correct by the custodian or other
person authorized to make the certification, by certificate complying with
paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of this rule or complying with any Act of Congress or
rule prescribed by the Supreme Court pursuant to statutory authority.
(5) Official publications. Books, pamphlets, or other
publications purporting to be issued by public authority.
(6) Newspapers and periodicals. Printed materials purporting
to be newspapers or periodicals.
(7) Trade inscriptions and the like. Inscriptions, signs,
tags, or labels purporting to have been affixed in the course of business and
indicating ownership, control, or origin.
(8) Acknowledged documents. Documents accompanied by a
certificate of acknowledgment executed in the manner provided by law by a notary
public or other officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments.
(9) Commercial paper and related documents. Commercial paper,
signatures thereon, and documents relating thereto to the extent provided by
general commercial law.
(10) Presumptions under Acts of Congress. Any signature,
document, or other matter declared by Act of Congress to be presumptively or
prima facie genuine or authentic.
(11) Certified domestic records of regularly conducted
activity. The original or a duplicate of a domestic record of regularly
conducted activity that would be admissible under Rule 803(6)
if accompanied by a written declaration of its custodian or other qualified
person, in a manner complying with any Act of Congress or rule prescribed by the
Supreme Court pursuant to statutory authority, certifying that the record--
(A) was made at or near the time of
the occurrence of the matters set forth by, or from information transmitted by,
a person with knowledge of those matters;
(B) was kept in the course of the
regularly conducted activity; and
(C) was made by the regularly
conducted activity as a regular practice.
A party intending to offer a record into evidence under this paragraph must
provide written notice of that intention to all adverse parties, and must make
the record and declaration available for inspection sufficiently in advance of
their offer into evidence to provide an adverse party with a fair opportunity to
challenge them.
(12) Certified foreign records of regularly conducted
activity. In a civil case, the original or a duplicate of a foreign record of
regularly conducted activity that would be admissible under Rule 803(6)
if accompanied by a written declaration by its custodian or other qualified
person certifying that the record--
(A) was made at or near the time of
the occurrence of the matters set forth by, or from information transmitted by,
a person with knowledge of those matters;
(B) was kept in the course of the
regularly conducted activity; and
(C) was made by the regularly
conducted activity as a regular practice.
The declaration must be signed in a manner that, if falsely made, would subject
the maker to criminal penalty under the laws of the country where the
declaration is signed. A party intending to offer a record into evidence under
this paragraph must provide written notice of that intention to all adverse
parties, and must make the record and declaration available for inspection
sufficiently in advance of their offer into evidence to provide an adverse party
with a fair opportunity to challenge them.
History:
(Jan. 2, 1975, P.L. 93-595, § 1, 88 Stat. 1944; Oct. 1, 1987; Nov. 1, 1988;
Dec. 1, 2000.)
FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE
Effective July 1, 1975, as amended to December 1, 2007
Rule 903 Subscribing Witness' Testimony Unnecessary
The testimony of a subscribing witness is not necessary to
authenticate a writing unless required by the laws of the jurisdiction whose
laws govern the validity of the writing.
History:
(Jan. 2, 1975, P.L. 93-595, § 1, 88 Stat. 1945.)