Case Name: STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Bruce BELVIN, Respondent
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2008-05-01
Citations: 986 So. 2d 516
Docket Number: No. SC06-593
Parties: STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Bruce BELVIN, Respondent.
Judges: LEWIS, C.J., and ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, and CANTERO, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 986
Pages: 516–534

Head Matter:
STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Bruce BELVIN, Respondent.
No. SC06-593.
Supreme Court of Florida.
May 1, 2008.
Rehearing Denied July 8, 2008.
Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, and Celia Terenzio, Assistant Attorney General, Bureau Chief, and James J. Carney and Richard Valuntas, Assistant Attorneys General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Petitioner.
Richard W. Springer and Catherine Mazzullo of Richard W. Springer, P.A., Palm Springs, FL, for Respondent.

Opinion:
QUINCE, J.
This case is before the Court for review of the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Belvin v. State, 922 So.2d 1046 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). In its decision the district court ruled upon the following question, which was certified to be of great public importance:
DOES ADMISSION OF THOSE PORTIONS OF THE BREATH TEST AFFIDAVIT PERTAINING TO THE BREATH TEST OPERATOR'S PROCEDURES AND OBSERVATIONS IN ADMINISTERING THE BREATH TEST CONSTITUTE TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE AND VIOLATE THE SIXTH AMENDMENT'S CONFRONTATION CLAUSE IN LIGHT OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT'S HOLDING IN CRAWFORD V. WASHINGTON, 541 U.S. 36 (2004)?
Id. at 1054. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons that follow we approve the decision of the Fourth District and answer the certified question in the affirmative.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Bruce Belvin was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI). At a non-jury trial in county court, the breath test technician, Rebecca Smith, who administered the breath test and prepared the breath test affidavit, did not testify. The breath test affidavit was admitted over Belvin's objections that the technician should be present and subject to cross-examination. Belvin appealed his conviction and sentence to the circuit court arguing the failure to have the breath technician testify in person at trial violated his right to con frontation as espoused in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004). The circuit court affirmed the conviction and ruled that the breath test affidavit was not testimonial in nature and that Crawford did not preclude its admission.
Belvin next sought certiorari review in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, which found admission of certain portions of the breath test affidavit during Belvin's criminal trial violated his constitutional right to confrontation under Crawford. The district court noted that breath test affidavits are usually prepared by law enforcement agencies for use in criminal trials or driver's license revocation proceedings. See Belvin, 922 So.2d at 1050-51. Thus, the court opined that such affidavits qualify as statements that were made under circumstances which would lead an objective witness reasonably to believe that the statement would be available for use at a later trial. Id. Thus, the Fourth District remanded the cause for a new trial and certified the question to this Court for our review.
DISCUSSION
The State first contends breath test affidavits are not testimonial and that technician Smith's breath test affidavit in this case was admissible under Crawford. Conversely, Belvin argues the breath test affidavit pertaining to the breath test operator's procedures and observations are testimonial evidence. Thus, the affidavit is inadmissible under Crawford. We will first address whether breath test affidavits are testimonial to determine whether technician Smith's breath test affidavit in this case was admissible under Crawford.
In order to introduce breath test results as evidence in a DUI prosecution, the State must first present evidence that the test was performed substantially in accordance with approved methods, that is, by a person trained and qualified to conduct it, on an approved machine that has been tested and inspected. See State v. Donaldson, 579 So.2d 728 (Fla.1991). Sections 316.1934(5) and 90.803(8), Florida Statutes (2007), provide for the introduction of affidavits containing the necessary evidentiary foundation as a public records exception to the hearsay rule. Such an affidavit is admissible without further authentication and is presumptive proof of the results of an authorized test to determine alcohol content of the blood or breath of a defendant. § 316.1934(5), Fla. Stat. The affidavit must contain the following:
(a) The type of test administered and the procedures followed;
(b) The time of the collection of the blood or breath sample analyzed;
(c) The numerical results of the test indicating the alcohol content of the blood or breath;
(d) The type and status of any permit issued by the Department of Law Enforcement which was held by the person who performed the test; and
(e) If the test was administered by means of a breath testing instrument, the date of performance of the most recent required maintenance on such instrument.
Id. The statute also provides that the law enforcement agency shall provide a form for the affidavit and that the person tested may subpoena the person who administered the test as an adverse witness at a civil or criminal trial. Id.
Section 90.803(8), Florida Statutes (2007), is the public records and reports exception to the hearsay rule. It excludes from hearsay the following:
Records, reports, statements reduced to writing, or data compilations, in any form, of public offices or agencies, set ting forth the activities of the office or agency, or matters observed pursuant to duty imposed by law as to matters which there was a duty to report, excluding in criminal cases matters observed by a police officer or other law enforcement personnel, unless the sources of information or other circumstances show their lack of trustworthiness. The criminal case exclusion shall not apply to an affidavit otherwise admissible under s. 316.1934 or s. 327.354.
§ 90.803(8), Fla. Stat. An item of evidence that meets the requirements of this statutory provision may however be ex-cludable for other reasons. The introductory language to section 90.803 states that items satisfying the requirements of this exception are "not inadmissible" merely because the evidence is hearsay. An item of evidence, such as the affidavit involved in this case, may be inadmissible for other reasons, including that the use of the affidavit would violate the defendant's constitutional right of confrontation. The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment provides that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . to be confronted with the witnesses against him." U.S. Const. Amend. VI. The right guaranteed by this clause of the Sixth Amendment differs from the kind of protection that is afforded by state evidence rules governing the admission of hearsay. See generally Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004).
The standard for determining whether the admission of a hearsay statement against a criminal defendant violates the right of confrontation was modified by the Supreme Court in Crawford v. Washington. Before Crawford, the Confrontation Clause issue was controlled by Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 66, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980). In Roberts the Court said that a hearsay statement could be admitted in a criminal trial without violating the right of confrontation if it was shown that the declarant was unavailable and the out-of-court statement bore adequate indicia of reliability. This test focused on the reliability of the statement. As explained in Roberts, a statement had adequate indicia of reliability if it either fell within a firmly rooted hearsay exception or if it bore "particularized guarantees of trustworthiness." Id.
However, in Crawford, the Supreme Court dispensed with the Roberts reliability analysis for testimonial hearsay and held the admission of a hearsay statement made by a declarant who does not testify at trial violates the Sixth Amendment if (1) the statement is testimonial, (2) the declarant is unavailable, and (3) the defendant lacked a prior opportunity for cross-examination of the declarant. The Court emphasized that if "testimonial" evidence is at issue, "the Sixth Amendment demands what the common law required: unavailability and a prior opportunity for cross-examination." Crawford, 541 U.S. at 68, 124 S.Ct. 1354. "Only [testimonial statements] cause the declarant to be a 'witness' within the meaning of the Confrontation Clause." Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813, 821, 126 S.Ct. 2266, 165 L.Ed.2d 224 (2006). "It is the testimonial character of the statement that separates it from other hearsay that, while subject to traditional limitations upon hearsay evidence, is not subject to the Confrontation Clause." Id.
Thus, we must initially determine whether the breath test affidavit at issue in the instant case contains testimonial statements. While Crawford did not establish a precise definition for the term "testimonial," the Supreme Court provided some guidance, holding that, at a minimum, statements are testimonial if the de- clarant made them at a "preliminary hearing, before a grand jury, or at a former trial; and [in] police interrogations." Crawford, 541 U.S. at 68, 124 S.Ct. 1354. Following Crawford, the Supreme Court established a general rule for determining whether statements are testimonial or non-testimonial:
Statements are nontestimonial when made in the course of police interrogation under circumstances objectively indicating that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to enable police assistance to meet an ongoing emergency. They are testimonial when the circumstances objectively indicate that there is no such ongoing emergency, and that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution.
Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. at 822, 126 S.Ct. 2266. The distinction rests on the primary purpose of the statement.
Applying the rationales of Davis and Crawford to the instant case, we conclude that the breath test affidavit is testimonial. First, the affidavit was "acting as a witness" against the accused. Davis, 547 U.S. at 828, 126 S.Ct. 2266; see Crawford, 541 U.S. at 51, 124 S.Ct. 1354. The technician who created the breath test affidavit did so to prove a critical element in Belvin's DUI criminal prosecution. In other words, the breath test affidavit was created "to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution." Davis, 547 U.S. at 822, 126 S.Ct. 2266; see Thomas v. United States, 914 A.2d 1, 12-13 (D.C.2006), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 128 S.Ct. 241, 169 L.Ed.2d 160 (2007). Second, the affidavit was not created during an ongoing emergency or contemporaneously with the crime. Instead, it was created "well after the criminal events had transpired." Magruder v. Commonwealth, 275 Va. 283, 657 S.E.2d 113, 129 (2008) (Keenan, J., dissenting); see Davis, 547 U.S. at 830, 832, 126 S.Ct. 2266. Third, the affidavit was created at the request of the police for Belvin's DUI prosecution. See State v. Caulfield, 722 N.W.2d 304, 309 (Minn.2006); State v. March, 216 S.W.3d 663, 666(Mo.), cert. dismissed, — U.S. -, 128 S.Ct. 1441, 169 L.Ed.2d 256 (2007). Finally, the affidavit falls squarely into the category of "formalized testimonial materials, such as affidavits," which the Supreme Court listed in the various formulations of the core class of "testimonial" statements. Crawford, 541 U.S. at 52, 124 S.Ct. 1354 (emphasis added). A breath test affidavit is created under circumstances where the technician is expecting it will be used at a later trial. More precisely, the sole purpose of a breath test affidavit is to authenticate the results of the test for use at trial. See § 316.1934(5), Fla. Stat. (2007).
The State argues that a common thread in testimonial statements is that they generally contemplate the examination of a declarant and the give-and-take of questions and answers. The State claims the breath test affidavits provided for in section 316.1934(5) simply involve a technician's observations regarding the administration of a breath test, not the examination of a declarant and the give-and-take of questions and answers. These arguments are unpersuasive. A statement does not have to be the product of interrogation in order for it to be testimonial. Statements, for example, that are voluntarily given to police officers or prosecutors by declarants who are subsequently unavailable to testify may be testimonial even when they do not involve the "give-and-take of questions and answers." Additionally, the State's contention that the breath test affidavits "simply involve a technician's observations regarding the administration of a breath test" is belied by the Fourth District's observations concerning what is done in the testing process and what is recorded in the affidavit. The court said:
Breath testing operators are required to follow certain procedures to ensure the reliability of the test results, including maintaining a breath test log, observing the defendant for a fixed period of time, and analyzing the requisite number of samples within a specified time frame. Their affidavits are based on what they did and observed while testing the subject. Among other things, the affidavit contains the technician's statement of when he began the period of observation and what procedures he followed in conducting the breath test. These recordings are "testimonial" in our view.
Belvin, 922 So.2d at 1050-51 (footnote omitted).
A breath test affidavit fits squarely within the definition of "testimonial" provided by the Supreme Court in Davis v. Washington. While Davis addressed the issue in the context of police interrogation, its principles are still applicable to this case. It is also conceivable that the breath test affidavit is, in fact, a type of interrogation. It is after all, a series of structured questions developed by state officials and answered by the breath technician who administers the breath test and records specific observations made at the time of testing the accused. "[T]he information recorded by the technician who administered the test is admitted to establish a critical element of the crime of driving under the influence." Belvin, 922 So.2d at 1051. Therefore, the type of statements contained in breath test affidavits are testimonial under Davis because "the circumstances objectively indicate that there is no . ongoing emergency, and that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution." Davis, 547 U.S. at 822, 126 S.Ct. 2266.
The State also argues that the breath test affidavit is more akin to a "business record" or "public record" than it is to an "affidavit," and that Crawford, would allow admission of business records and some other official records because they are not testimonial in nature. See Crawford, 541 U.S. at 56, 124 S.Ct. 1354 ("Most of the hearsay exceptions covered statements that by their nature were not testimonial — for example, business records . "). The State contends, citing United States v. Quezada, 754 F.2d 1190, 1194 (5th Cir.1985), that the breath test affidavits provided for in section 316.1934(5) are routine, objective observations, made as part of the everyday function of the preparing official and involve a technician mechanically registering an unambiguous factual matter. While this Court and other courts have held that records kept in the ordinary course of business are generally admissible, this general rule is not applicable when the record is being prepared at the specific request of a law enforcement agency and is not simply a record that is normally generated by that business under circumstances that do not involve law enforcement.
For example, in Baber v. State, 775 So.2d 258 (Fla.2000), a case which predates Crawford, we held that admission of a hospital record as a business record does not violate the Sixth Amendment. In Ba-ber, the defendant was charged with DUI manslaughter. The defendant was seriously injured in the accident and his blood was "tested for alcohol content" on the hospital's chemical analyzer. Baber, 775 So.2d at 259. The parties agreed the blood test was done for the purpose of medical treatment. The State wanted to introduce the blood alcohol report through the hospital's medical record custodian "who laid the necessary foundation through the business record hearsay exception." Id. The report was admitted over the defendant's objections. Id. We said "that a hospital record of a blood test made for medical purposes, which is maintained by the hospital as a medical or business record may be admitted in criminal cases pursuant to the business record exception to the hearsay rule." Id. at 263. However, in an abundance of caution and apparent foresight, we emphasized that "defendants must be given a full and fair opportunity to contest the trustworthiness of such records before they are submitted into evidence." Id.; see also Love v. Garcia, 634 So.2d 158 (Fla.1994) (holding once predicate has been laid for admission of medical records under the business record exception to hearsay the opposing party must be given an opportunity to prove the untrustworthiness of the records).
However, the district courts of appeal in a number of cases post-Crawford have distinguished Baber. In Johnson v. State, 929 So.2d 4 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005), approved, 982 So.2d 672 (Fla.2008), the defendant opposed the introduction of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement ("FDLE") lab test through the supervisor, not the person who actually performed the test. The lab report indicated that the substance tested was in fact a controlled substance. The Second District Court of Appeal in finding the test result not admissible through the supervisor distinguished Baber on the ground that the hospital in Baber did not have an interest in the outcome of any future criminal case lodged against the defendant. Johnson, 929 So.2d at 7. In other words, the hospital record in Baber was made during the ordinary course of the hospital's business and not for use in a future prosecution. The court also pointed out that "[t]he business records exception may have been the vehicle for admitting the report, but the vehicle does not determine the nature of the out-of-court statement." Id. at 8.
Similarly, in Rivera v. State, 917 So.2d 210, 211 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005), the defendant was convicted for trafficking in cocaine. On appeal, the defendant argued that the trial court erred in introducing an FDLE lab report, which indicated that the substance tested was cocaine, through the records custodian, pursuant to section 90.803(6), Florida Statutes. The State in Rivera called a supervisor of the chemist who actually performed the test in order to introduce the test into evidence because the chemist who actually performed the test was unavailable. Id. The Fifth District Court of Appeal declined to apply Baber to the case and noted that "extending this exception to a FDLE lab records custodian in a criminal proceeding would threaten Rivera's right under the Confrontation Clause to question the witness to ensure a fair trial." Rivera, 917 So.2d at 212. The district court reasoned that the supervisor "under cross-examination, could not have answered questions concerning chain of custody, methods of scientific testing, and analytical procedures regarding the contraband at issue." Id. The district court differentiated between the indicia of reliability of a hospital test on a patient's blood alcohol level for the benefit of the patient's medical treatment with the State's testing of alleged drug samples to incriminate and convict the accused. Id. In Martin v. State, 936 So.2d 1190 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006), the First District Court of Appeal found that an FDLE lab report admitted over defense objection violated the defendant's right to confrontation where the person who performed the test did not testify. The court reasoned that "[ajpplying Crawford, Florida courts have consistently held that records such as the FDLE report before us are testimonial in nature." Id. at 1192.
In two other cases from the Second District, Williams v. State, 933 So.2d 1283 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006), and Sobota v. State, 933 So.2d 1277 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006), the court confronted the same issue and found that admission of the reports without the testimony of the preparer violated the Confrontation Clause. Both cases were reversed and remanded. And in a case which involved the admission of a breath test affidavit, the Second District also found admission of the affidavit by a person other than the person who administered the test to be error. See Williams, 933 So.2d at 1283.
We agree with the analyses of the district courts that these affidavits are testimonial.
The State next argues that even if the breath test affidavit is deemed testimonial in nature, there is no Crawford violation because technician Smith was unavailable to testify and Belvin waived his opportunity to cross-examine her prior to trial by failing to depose her under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.220(h)(1)(D). This discovery rule permits defendants to take depositions in cases involving misdemeanors or criminal traffic offenses when good cause is shown to the trial court.
The record in this case demonstrates technician Smith was unavailable at trial. Belvin's counsel repeatedly told the trial court that technician Smith was "not available to anybody at this point" because she allegedly had left the State in order to avoid a misdemeanor battery charge. Because there was no evidence to contradict these statements, the State met its burden of showing that technician Smith was unavailable at trial.
Because Crawford's unavailability prong has been satisfied, we next address whether Belvin had a prior opportunity for cross-examination. To support its position that the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the witness, the State cites to Blanton v. State, 880 So.2d 798, 801 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), approved, 978 So.2d 149 (Fla.2008). In Blanton the Fifth District held that Crawford's goal of preventing the use of statements not previously tested through the adversary process can be satisfied by means of a discovery deposition. However, the First District in Lopez v. State, 888 So.2d 693, 701 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004), approved, 974 So.2d 340 (Fla.2008), rejected the conclusion reached in Blanton. The First District concluded that a discovery deposition does not qualify as a prior opportunity for cross-examination. In the decision now under review, the Fourth District relied on Lopez to conclude that "the taking of a discovery deposition cannot be treated as a proceeding that affords an opportunity for cross-examination." Belvin, 922 So.2d at 1053 (quoting Lopez, 888 So.2d at 701).
In our review of Blanton and Lopez, we concluded that the exercise of the right to take a discovery deposition under rule 3.220 does not serve as the functional substitute of in-court confrontation of the witness. See State v. Lopez, 974 So.2d 340, 349-50 (Fla.2008); Blanton v. State, 978 So.2d 149, 155 (Fla.2008). As we explained in Lopez, there are a number of reasons why a discovery deposition does not satisfy the opportunity for cross-examination that is required under Crawford. See Lopez, 974 So.2d at 347-50. First, rule 3.220(h) was not designed as an opportunity to engage in adversarial testing of the evidence against the defendant, nor is the rule customarily used for the purpose of cross-examination. Instead, the rule is used to learn what the testimony will be and attempt to limit it or to uncover other evidence and witnesses. A defendant cannot be "expected to conduct an adequate cross-examination as to matters of which he first gained knowledge at the taking of the deposition." State v. Basiliere, 353 So.2d 820, 824-25 (Fla.1977). This is especially true if the defendant is "unaware that this deposition would be the only opportunity he would have to examine and challenge the accuracy of the deponent's statements." Id. at 824. Second, a discovery deposition is not intended as an opportunity to perpetuate testimony for use at trial, is not admissible as substantive evidence at trial, and is only admissible for purposes of impeachment. Third, the defendant is not entitled to be present during a discovery deposition pursuant to rule 3.220(h). Based on this analysis, we cannot conclude that Belvin waived his opportunity to cross-examine technician Smith by failing to depose her under rule 3.220(h)(1)(D).
Furthermore, even though section 316.1934(5) gives a defendant the right to subpoena the breath test operator as an adverse witness at trial, the statutory provision does not adequately preserve the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. Importantly, the burden of proof lies with the state, not the defendant. "Not only does a defendant have no burden to produce constitutionally necessary evidence of guilt, but he has the right to stand silent during the state's case in chief, all the while insisting that the state's proof satisfy constitutional requirements." Contreras v. State, 910 So.2d 901, 908 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005), approved in part and quashed in part, 979 So.2d 896 (Fla.2008).
Because Crawford's requirement of a prior opportunity for cross-examination has not been satisfied, the admission of those portions of the breath test affidavit pertaining to the breath test technician's procedures and observations in administering the breath test violated Belvin's Sixth Amendment right of confrontation.
We therefore answer the certified question in the affirmative.
Other Issue Raised
The State also argues the district court erred in granting certiorari relief because the circuit court's decision did not violate "a clearly established principle of law." The State contends the principle of law set forth in Crawford is anything but clearly established especially when the opinion expressly refrained from defining testimonial statement. Conversely, Belvin asserts the Crawford decision was controlling law when the circuit court, sitting in its appellate capacity, rendered its opinion. Thus the Fourth District did not err in concluding that the circuit court violated a clearly established principle of law by deciding the case contrary to the holding in Crawford.
The Fourth District summarized the standard for determining whether a lower court has violated a clearly established principle of law in the following passage:
In Haines City Community Development v. Heggs, 658 So.2d 523, 530 (Fla.1995), the supreme court discussed the standard of review that applies when a district court reviews an appellate decision of a circuit court. The court explained that the proper inquiry is whether the circuit court afforded the petitioner procedural due process and applied the correct law. Failure to apply the correct law, which is synonymous with departure from the essential requirements of the law, is something more than a simple legal error. Id. at 528. To warrant a writ of certiorari, the error must be serious enough to constitute a departure from the essential requirements of the law. Id. There must be a violation of a clearly established principle of law resulting in a miscarriage of justice. Id. (citing Combs v. State, 436 So.2d 93, 95-96 (Fla.1983)).
Belvin, 922 So.2d at 1048.
Contrary to the State's assertions, for purposes of certiorari review a clearly established law can derive from recent controlling constitutional law. See Allstate Ins. Co. v. Kaklamanos, 843 So.2d 885, 890 (Fla.2003) (" 'Clearly established law can derive from a variety of legal sources, including recent controlling case law, rules of court, statutes, and constitutional law"). Moreover, all of the United States Supreme Court decisions applying or announcing rules of criminal law must be "applied retroactively to all cases, State or Federal, pending on direct review or not yet final, with no exception for cases in which the new rule constitutes a 'clear break' with the past." Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 328, 107 S.Ct. 708, 93 L.Ed.2d 649 (1987) (emphasis added); see also Smith v. State, 598 So.2d 1063, 1066 (Fla.1992) (applying the Griffith rule to decisions of the Florida Supreme Court).
We find no error in the district court's resolution of this issue.
CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, we find the portions of the breath test affidavit containing the operator's procedures and observations in administering the breath test are testimonial and their admission at Bel-vin's criminal DUI trial without a prior opportunity to cross-examine the operator violated his right of confrontation under Crawford. We therefore answer the certified question in the affirmative and approve the decision of the Fourth District. It is so ordered.
LEWIS, C.J., and ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, and CANTERO, JJ., concur.
WELLS, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with an opinion, in which BELL, J., concurs.
. I emphasize that I do not believe that evidence is nontestimonial simply because it falls under the business record definition of the Federal Rules of Evidence or the business record definition of a state's rules of evidence. Under Crawford, if evidence is testimonial, it falls under the Confrontation Clause. The fact that federal or state rules of evidence define a "business record" in a manner that captures testimonial evidence does not exempt the evidence from the reach of the Sixth Amendment. Business records are not ipso facto nontestimonial. Instead, it is the non-testimonial nature of evidence that may remove it from Crawford, a quality many business records coincidentally possess. As the California Supreme Court observes here, one such nontestimonial quality business records often possess is that they are a contemporaneous recording of present' — not past — events.