Opinion ID: 677661
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: MFJP Badge and Documents

Text: 36 The district court's decision regarding authentication is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. The authentication of evidence is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims. United States v. Harrington, 923 F.2d 1371, 1374 (9th Cir.) (internal quotations omitted), cert. denied, 112 S.Ct. 164 (1991); see also Fed.R.Evid. 901(a). Even if the badge and identification were not properly authenticated as genuine foreign documents, they were authenticated by the testimony of the officer who stopped the Bronco, Penny Gillette. See id. Rule 901(b) (documents may be authenticated by extrinsic evidence, e.g., testimony of witness with knowledge); see also United States v. Chu Kong Yin, 935 F.2d 990, 995 (9th Cir.1991) (where authentication requirement satisfied under Rule 901, need not determine whether evidence satisfied foreign documents self-authentication requirement under Rule 902(3)). Gillette testified that she found the MFJP badge and identification in a woman's purse in the Bronco. She stated that the man pictured in the identification was the same man who was driving the Bronco. The Government introduced sufficient evidence through Gillette's testimony to establish that the badge and identification were what the Government claimed them to be: documents in the possession of individuals claiming to be members of the MFJP. 6