Opinion ID: 773283
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Admissibility of Computer Records

Text: 43 Jambu raises as error the admission of certain telephone toll records of South Central Bell for telephone numbers subscribed to by Jambu and Portuondo-Gonzalez as business records under Rule 803(6) of the Federal Rules of Evidence. In reviewing a trial court's evidentiary determinations, this court reviews de novo the court's conclusions of law and reviews for clear error the court's factual determinations that underpin its legal conclusions. United States v. Reed, 167 F.3d 984, 987 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 120 S.Ct. 229 (1999). 44 A business record must satisfy four requirements in order to be admissible under Rule 803(6): 45 (1) it must have been made in the course of a regularly conducted business activity; (2) it must have been kept in the regular course of that business; (3) the regular practice of that business must have been to have made the memorandum; and (4) the memorandum must have been made by a person with knowledge of the transaction or from information transmitted by a person with knowledge. 46 United States v. Weinstock, 153 F.3d 272, 276 (6th Cir. 1998)(quoting Redken Laboratories, Inc. v. Levin, 843 F.2d 226, 229 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 852 (1988)). This information must be presented through the testimony of the custodian or other qualified witness[.] Fed.R.Evid. 803(6). Business records meeting these criteria are admissible unless the source of information or the method or circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness. Id. 47 Rule 803(6) does not require that the custodian personally gather, input, and compile the information memorialized in abusiness record. Weinstock, 153 F.3d at 276. The custodian of the records need not be in control of or have individual knowledge of the particular corporate records, but need only be familiar with the company's recordkeeping practices. Id. (citing In re Custodian of Records of Variety Distrib., Inc., 927 F.2d 244, 248 (6th Cir. 1991)). Likewise, [t]o be an 'other qualified witness,' it is not necessary that the person laying the foundation for the introduction of the business record have personal knowledge of their preparation. Dyno Construction Co. v. McWane, Inc., 198 F.3d 567, 575-76 (6th Cir. 1999). 48 A computer printout is admissible under Rule 803(6) as a business record if the offer or establishes a sufficient foundation in the record for its introduction. United States v. Cestnik, 36 F.3d 904 (10th Cir. 1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1175 (1995)(holding computer-generated money transfer orders admissible). See also Dyno Construction, 198 F.3d at 576 (computer printout of business records held admissible); United States v. Briscoe, 896 F.2d 1476, 1494 (7th Cir. 1990)(It is well established that computer data compilations are admissible as business records under Fed.R.Evid. 803(6) if a proper foundation as to the reliability of the records is established.) 49 In this case, William Deering, Manager of Security for Bell South, was called by the government to testify concerning South Central Bell telephone records. He indicated that he was the authorized representative to bring records to court. The records in question contained subscriber line information, including the subscriber's name, the location where the telephone was installed, the date and duration of local and long distance telephone calls, the numbers from which calls were placed and at which they were received, and billing amounts. Id. pp. 374-376. The telephone numbers involved in the calls were recorded by computer contemporaneous to the phone call being made and received, and the information was then stored in the computer to be downloaded as needed. Id. pp. 378-79, 383. Mr. Deering stated that it was a regular practice of Bell South to make these reports and keep these types of records, and that the records are relied on by Bell South to ensure accuracy of billing. Id. pp. 379, 383. The above information satisfies the first three criteria for admissibility under Rule 803(6). 50 Jambu argues that the fourth requirement, that the memorandum must have been made by a person with knowledge of the transaction or from information transmitted by a person with knowledge, was not satisfied because the actual record was memorialized and entered into the computer's memory by the computer itself rather than being entered by a person. Similar records have been held sufficiently reliable in other cases. 51 In United States v. Linn, 880 F.2d 209, 216 (9th Cir. 1989), the court held that a computer printout showing a call placed from a hotel room was admissible as a business record where the record was generated automatically and was retained in the ordinary course of business. In Briscoe, 896 F.2d at 1494-95, telephone subscriber data entered into the computer contemporaneous with the placing of each telephone call and maintained in the regular course of business for billing purposes was held to be admissible. In United States v. Miller, 771 F.2d 1219, 1237 (9th Cir. 1985), the admission of computer-generated toll and billing records made contemporaneously by the computer itself was upheld. 52 Mr. Deering testified that he did not know the error rate in South Central Bell's billing system, and that he was unfamiliarwith what programming was employed to ensure accuracy, although he did know that there were parameters for measurements of accuracy rates. Jambu argues that the instant case is thus distinguishable from Briscoe, where the evidence revealed that the computer scanned itself for error every fifteen seconds. See Briscoe, 896 F.2d at 1494. 53 The government is not required to present expert testimony as to the mechanical accuracy of the computer where it presented evidence that the computer was sufficiently accurate that the company relied upon it in conducting its business.United States v. De Georgia, 420 F.2d 889, 893 n.11 (9th Cir. 1969)(cited in Miller, 771 F.2d at 1237). See also Weinstock, 153 F.3d at 276 (witness not required to know personally how company performed safety checks); Moore, 923 F.2d 910, 915 (1st Cir. 1991)(not required that computers be tested for programming errors before computer records can be admitted under Rule 803(6)); Briscoe, 896 F.2d at 1494-95 (showing that computer was regularly tested for internal programming errors not a prerequisite to the admission of computer records). The record indicates that Mr. Deering testified that South Central Bell relied on these computer-generated records to ensure the accuracy of its billing. He was not required to testify concerning any programming features which were in place to guarantee accuracy. 54 Jambu also argues that Mr. Deering was not qualified to testify concerning these records because he was not sufficiently familiar with the computer system. Mr. Deering testified that he was not the individual who programmed the computer. However, it is not necessary that the computer programmer testify in order to authenticate computer-generated records.Linn, 880 F.2d at 216; Miller, 771 F.2d at 1237; United States v. Young Bros., Inc., 728 F.2d 682, 694 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 881 (1984). Likewise, the fact that Deering did not obtain the computer-generated records himself but rather asked someone else to provide him with the records called for in the subpoena did not mandate the exclusion of the records. See Dyno Construction, 198 F.3d at 576 (fact that witness not involved in the preparation of the printed computer records and did not know who prepared them were not matters that precluded admission of documents as business records). Mr. Deering sufficiently demonstrated that he was familiar with the recordkeeping system employed by Bell South. 55 The district court properly concluded that the telephone records in question were trustworthy and that the government had established an adequate foundation for the admission of those records as business records under Rule 803(6).