Court Opinion

ID: 9455211
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 19:14:23.950082+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:30.199525
License: Public Domain

ELY, Circuit Judge
(concurring).
I concur in the majority opinion, but I reemphasize that the appellant, in objecting to the questioned evidence, did not rely upon the best evidence rule. Had an objection been made on this basis, I would be more troubled by admission of this testimony, since the computer print-out sheets could have been made available as evidence that there was no transaction recorded.
Moreover, I wish to add a few cautionary words of my own. As Judge Hamley points out, the business records exception to the hearsay evidence rule is grounded on the probability of accuracy that is provided by the fact that, in the regular course of business, certain records are maintained and relied upon in daily business operations. The Federal Business Records Act was designed to conform this exception to the practices of modern business by eliminating the traditional requirement that the authenticity of the records be established by the personal testimony of their maker.1 Eliminating this requirement, however, should in no way alleviate the need for proof that the particular records have a high degree of trustworthiness. Palmer v. Hoffman, 318 U.S. 109, 63 S.Ct. 477, 87 L.Ed. 645 (1943).
The requirement of trustworthiness was, I think, incorporated into the Business Records Act by means of the phrase, “in regular course of * * * business.” I believe that this criterion of admissibility is nothing more than an assessment of the probability that records ordinarily made in the regular course of business are likely to be accurate. Thus, it is a prerequisite that a firm foundation of admissibility must be *895laid by convincing the trial court that the circumstances of the making of the record are such that accuracy is not merely probable, but highly probable. Bisno v. United States, 299 F.2d 711, 718 (9th Cir.1961). This principle becomes even more important when related to the questioned introduction of a summary of that which would be found in the records themselves. See United States v. Hickey, 360 F.2d 127, 144 (7th Cir.1966). In fact, some courts have indicated that summaries are inadmissible unless the basic records are offered into evidence. See, e. g., McDaniel v. United States, 343 F.2d 785 (5th Cir.1965); Fairchild Stratos Corp. v. Lear Siegler, Inc., 337 F.2d 785 (4th Cir.1964).
The problems concerned with mere summaries of records are likely to increase as electronic data processing equipment increasingly becomes a more normal means of keeping records. Summaries, in the form of print-out sheets, of voluminous data stored in a computer may be a more desirable form of evidence than admission of all the separate documents that were transcribed into the computer. Moreover, when a party seeks to prove the negative, that mention of a transaction of a specified character cannot be found in the records, then a summary may necessarily suffice. But in order fully to protect the defendant in a criminal case from undue infringement of his right to confrontation of the witnesses, this type of evidence should still be strictly tested. As the Supreme Court has stated, in dealing with hearsay evidence, “The reason for excluding this evidence as an evidentiary matter also requires its exclusion as a constitutional matter.” Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 136 n. 12, 88 S. Ct. 1620, 1628, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968) (Emphasis in original).
At least one court has recently given careful consideration to the question of whether a computer’s print-out sheets constituted admissible evidence. The court noted that the best evidence rule might actually support the use of the computer sheets and concluded,
we hold that print-out' sheets of business records stored on electronic computing equipment are admissible in evidence if relevant and material, without the necessity of identifying, locating, and producing as witnesses the individuals who made the entries in the regular course of business if it is shown (1) that the electronic computing equipment is recognized as standard equipment, (2) the entries are made in the regular course of business at or reasonably near the time of the happening of the event recorded, and (3) the foundation testimony satisfies the court that the sources of information, method and time of preparation were such as to indicate its trustworthiness and justify its admission.” “ * * *
King v. State for Use and Benefit of Murdock Acceptance Corp., 222 So.2d 393 (Miss.1969).
The Federal Business Records Act should never be construed as authorizing carte blanche admission into evidence of any and all information that can be obtained from the records of a business. It most certainly should not be construed so as to permit the introduction of hearsay record evidence in the nature of opinion or conclusion testimony as distinguished from recordation of facts. It must be remembered, too, that the statute creates an exception to the basic principle that entitles an accused to confront the witnesses against him. In a day when the pace of our technology threatens to exceed the development of rules for governing human conduct, we must be careful to insure that fundamental rights are not surrendered to the calculations of machines. If a machine is to testify against an accused, the courts must, at the very least, be satisfied with all reasonable certainty that both the machine and those who supply its information have performed their functions with utmost accuracy. Therefore, it is essential that the trial court be convinced of the trustworthiness of the particular records before admitting them into evidence. And it should be *896convinced by proof presented by the party seeking to introduce the evidence rather than receiving the evidence upon the basis of an inadequate foundation and placing the burden upon the objector to demonstrate its weakness. The majority appears to acknowledge this desideratum, but I think the principle deserves more emphasis than that given by the somewhat casual comment made in Footnote 11 of my Brother Hamley's opinion.

. The second paragraph of section 1732 (a) provides that
“All other circumstances of the making of such writing or record, including lack of personal knowledge by the entrant or maker, may be shown to affect its weight, but such circumstances shall not affect its admissibility.”
The Supreme Court gave this paragraph its proper meaning in Palmer v. Hoffman, 318 U.S, 109, 63 S.Ct. 477, 87 L. Ed. 645 (1943). The Court noted that the basis of the exception was circumstances indicating a probability of trustworthiness in any particular case. The Court went on to say,
“Nor is it any answer to say that Congress has provided in the Act that the various circumstances of the making of the record should affect its weight not its admissibility. That provision comes into play only in case the other requirements of the Act are met."
Id. at 114, 63 S.Ct. at 481. (Emphasis supplied). I interpret this language to eliminate the need for bringing into court the maker of the record to show his personal knowledge but not to eliminate the need for laying a convincing foundation for introduction of the records. See S. Rep. No. 1965, 74th Cong., 2d Sess. 1 (1936).
Although I cannot see that the prosecution laid a strong foundation for the introduction of the questioned evidence in this case, there was no objection on the ground that foundation was lacking. The only objection was based on the ground that the evidence was hearsay, and Judge Hamley has explained why that objection was properly overruled.