Opinion ID: 4209433
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Messages Are “Writings”

Text: [¶30] The messages clearly fit within the broad definition of a “writing.”8 See M.R. Evid. 1001(a) (“A ‘writing’ consists of letters, words, numbers, or their equivalent set down in any form.”); M.R. Evid. 1001 advisers’ note to 1976 amend. (“[T]he rule includes sophisticated methods of data compilation, storage, and retrieval.”); 2 McCormick on Evidence § 233 & n.9 (7th ed. 2016) 8 A majority of state and federal courts, applying similarly-worded versions of the rule, have concluded that electronically-transmitted communications such as emails or text messages constitute writings and that when a party seeks to prove at trial what the communication said, the original or a copy must be produced or accounted for before secondary evidence may be admitted. See United States v. Harry, 927 F. Supp. 2d 1185, 1194-99, 1227 (D.N.M. 2013) (holding that the best evidence rule applied to text messages sent by the defendant to a witness containing admissions that he committed an assault the previous night), modified on other grounds by No. CR 10-1915 JB, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74272 (D.N.M. May 13, 2013); Rodriguez v. State, 449 S.W.3d 306, 311-13 (Ark. Ct. App. 2014) (concluding that a picture of a text message, where there was evidence from the victim that the message had been deleted and testimony from a cellular representative that the original message contents were not stored by the company, complied with the rule); State v. Espiritu, 176 P.3d 885, 892-93 (Haw. 2008) (holding that threatening text messages sent by the defendant to the victim were a writing, but allowing testimony as to their content because evidence supported the conclusion that the messages were unavailable); Laughner v. State, 769 N.E.2d 1147, 1159 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002) (holding that the best evidence rule applied to messages sent in an internet chat room supporting a charge for attempted child solicitation), abrogated on other grounds by Fajardo v. State, 859 N.E.2d 1201, 1206 n.9 (Ind. 2007) (superseded by statute, Ind. Code § 35-34-1-5 (2007)); Dalton v. Commonwealth, 769 S.E.2d 698, 703-04 (Va. Ct. App. 2015) (holding that the best evidence rule applied to a text message arranging a drug transaction). 18 (stating that “writing” is broadly defined to include digital evidence such as text messages).