Opinion ID: 1817741
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Unauthenticated Documents

Text: ¶ 16. Gorman states that the record is clear that the trial court relied on the unauthenticated documents in deciding the summary judgment. Gorman argues that the trial court should not have considered the unauthenticated documents. M.R.E. 901 provides that authentication or identification of evidence is a condition precedent to admissibility. Gorman contends that M.R.E. 901 has not been satisfied. Gorman also asserts that Hall has not complied with the requirements of M.R.C.P. 56(c) by submitting 70,000 unauthenticated documents, including the letter dated November 11, 1983, from J.H. Wright and Associates that references IP's recent purchase order of a Gorman pump, and no affidavit to support the documents. ¶ 17. The trial court's order denying the remainder of Gorman's motion for summary judgment and the order denying reconsideration of the denial does not specifically state that the trial court relied on the unauthenticated documents. However, the trial court's order on reconsideration does state that there is evidence of the defendant's product being present at the work site in question and proximity to it by the plaintiff. In his deposition Hall stated that there were two Gorman pumps in the IP plant, but he did not state that asbestos was present. The unauthenticated letter only established that a Gorman pump was sold to IP at some point by J.H. Wright and Associates not that it contained asbestos components. ¶ 18. We find that under M.R.E. 901 and M.R.C.P. 56(c) the unauthenticated documents should not have been considered. However, the trial court's order does not specifically reference the documents in question. In any event, the letter does not place asbestos-containing products attributable to Gorman in the IP plant in Natchez.