Opinion ID: 71367
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admissibility of Berth Request Form

Text: 7 As evidence that appellants actually imported cocaine into the United States from a place outside the country, see 21 U.S.C. § 952(a), the government introduced the Lontue's berth request form, a document that assigns incoming vessels dock space and notes arrivals and departures of particular ships. The form was prepared by the Lontue's shipping company, yet it was introduced through John Perez, the Assistant Chief of Port Operations for Miami, whose office maintains such forms on file. 8 At trial, the defense objected to the use of the berth request as hearsay outside the scope of the business records exception. See Fed.R.Evid. 803(6). 6 Appellants press this issue here, alleging that because the shipping companies produced the form and the Port of Miami only kept it on file without any independent verification of its truth, the business records exception to the hearsay rule is inapposite. They contend that because the custodian of the records had no knowledge of who prepared them, the requirements of Rule 803(6) are not satisfied. 7 We disagree. 9 The touchstone of admissibility under the business records exception to the hearsay rule is reliability, and a trial judge has broad discretion to determine the admissibility of such evidence. United States v. Veytia-Bravo, 603 F.2d 1187, 1189 (5th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1024, 100 S.Ct. 686, 62 L.Ed.2d 658 (1980). 8 This court has held that the proponent of a document ordinarily need not be the entity whose first-hand knowledge was the basis of the facts sought to be proved. United States v. Atchley, 699 F.2d 1055, 1059 (11th Cir.1983). 9 To satisfy Rule 803(6), however, the proponent must establish that it was the business practice of the recording entity to obtain such information from persons with personal knowledge and the business practice of the proponent to maintain the records produced by the recording entity. 10 See Munoz v. Strahm Farms, Inc., 69 F.3d 501, 503 (Fed.Cir.1995); Saks Int'l, Inc. v. M/V Export Champion, 817 F.2d 1011, 1013 (2d Cir.1987). 10 Here, the government offered testimony sufficient to satisfy the requirements for admissibility. Perez testified that berth requests are maintained regularly in the Port's operations office, and that ships' agents regularly submit such documents as a prerequisite to obtaining a docking location. Perez further stated that the ships' agents personally prepare the berth requests. Applying the rule set out above, we conclude that the berth request was properly admitted at trial. 11