Opinion ID: 1232054
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: testimony about billy's handwriting

Text: Billy contends that the district court erred when it allowed Mario to testify about Billy's handwriting. During trial, Mario identified Billy's writing on a page in a small notebook with information about types of guns to show that Billy was seeking to purchase a gun. Mario testified that he was familiar with Billy's handwriting from the years they went to school together. He also stated that he did not become familiar with Billy's handwriting for the purposes of litigation. Neb.Rev.Stat. §27-901 (Reissue 1995) provides: (1) 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. (2) 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: .... (b) Nonexpert opinion as to the genuineness of handwriting, based upon familiarity not acquired for purposes of the litigation. We have held that it was not error to permit a motel clerk to testify that initials on a motel register were written by her coworkers when the clerk testified that she was familiar with their handwriting from the course of the employment. Because the familiarity with the handwriting was not acquired for the purposes of litigation, the requirements of §27-901 were met, and the testimony was properly admitted. State v. Schwartz, 239 Neb. 84, 474 N.W.2d 461 (1991). We have also held that testimony from a former spouse about familiarity was admissible. State v. Tyma, 264 Neb. 712, 651 N.W.2d 582 (2002). Billy contends that Schwartz is distinguishable. He argues that the motel clerk in Schwartz had current familiarity with the handwriting at issue, while in this case, Mario stated his familiarity with Billy's handwriting was based on observations when they were in school together. But the only restriction of §27-901 is that the familiarity was not acquired for litigation purposes. Here, Mario testified about his familiarity with Billy's handwriting and that he did not acquire the familiarity for litigation purposes. Thus, the requirements of §27-901 were met and the court did not err in receiving the testimony.