Arkansas
Arkansas has enacted a statute addressing the admissibility
of photographic reproductions of original documents.
[1] It provides (in pertinent part, emphasis added):(b)(1) If any business, institution, member of a profession or
calling, or any department or agency of government, in the regular
course of business or activity has kept or recorded any
memorandum, writing, entry, print, representation, or combination
thereof, of any act, transaction, occurrence, or event, and in
the course of business has caused any or all of the same to be
recorded, copied, or reproduced by any photographic, . . . optical
disk, or other process which accurately reproduces or forms
a durable medium for so reproducing the original, the original may
be destroyed in the regular course of business unless its
preservation is required by law. (2) The reproduction, when
satisfactorily identified, is as admissible in evidence as the original
itself in any judicial or administrative proceeding whether
the original is in existence or not.
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California
California's Evidence Code addresses the admissibility of reproduced
documents in section 1550 as follows (in pertinent part,
emphasis added):
A nonerasable optical image reproduction provided that additions,
deletions, or changes to the original document are not permitted
by the technology, . . . or other photographic copy or reproduction,
or an enlargement thereof, of a writing is as admissible as
the writing itself if the copy or reproduction was made and preserved
as part of the course of that business....[2]Section 1551 goes on to provide :
A print, whether enlarged or not, from a photographic film
(including a photographic plate, microphotographic film, photostatic
negative, or similar reproduction) of an original writing destroyed
or lost after such film was taken or a reproduction from an electronic
recording of video images on magnetic surfaces is admissible as
the original itself if, at the time of the taking of such film or
electronic recording, the person under whose direction and control
it was taken attached thereto, or to the sealed container in which
it was placed and has been kept, or incorporated in the film or
electronic recording, a certification complying with the provisions
of section 1531 and stating the date on which, and the fact that,
it was so taken under his direction and control.[3]Section 1531 states (emphasis added) :
For the purpose of evidence, whenever a copy of a writing
is attested or certified, the attestation or certificate must state in
substance that the copy is a correct copy of the original or of
a specified part therof, as the case may be. [4]
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Colorado
Colorado provides for the treatment of business records submitted
as evidence as follows (in pertinent part, emphasis added):If any business, institution, or member of a profession or calling
or any department or agency keeps or records any memorandum,
writing, entry, print, or representation, or combination thereof,
of any act, transaction, occurrence, or event and in the regular
course of business has caused any of the same to be recorded,
copied, or reproduced by any photographic, … optical disk, or other
form of mass storage, electronic imaging, electronic data processing,
electronically transmitted facsimile, printout, or other reproduction
of electronically stored data, or other process which accurately
reproduces or forms a durable medium for reproducing the original,
the original may be destroyed in the regular course of business
unless held in a custodial or fiduciary capacity or unless itspreservation is required by law. Such reproduction,
when satisfactorily identified, is as admissible in evidence as
the original itself in any judicial or administrative proceedingwhether the original is in existence or not....[5]
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Georgia
The Code of Georgia, in section 24-5-26, provides the following
(in pertinent part, emphasis added):Any photostatic, microphotographic, photographic, or optical image
reproduction of any original writing or record made in the regular
course of business to preserve the writing or record shall be
admissible in evidence in any proceeding in any court of this state
and in any proceeding before any board, bureau, department,
commission, or agency of the state in lieu of and without accounting
for the original of such writing or record, if such reproduction
accurately reproduces or forms a durable medium for reproducing
the original.[6]
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Maine
Maine's version of the Business Documents Act provides
(in pertinent part, emphasis added):If, in the regular course of any business… , there is kept or recorded
any memorandum, writing, entry, print, representation,
or combination thereof, of any act, transaction, occurrence or event,
and in the regular course of any business… , causes any or all of
the same to be recorded, copied or reproduced by any photographic,…optical disk that is not erasable or other process that accurately
reproduces or forms a durable medium for reproducing the original,
the reproduction or copy, when satisfactorily identified, is as
admissible in evidence as the original itself in any judicial or
administrative proceeding whether the original is in existence or not....[7][1] Ark. Code Ann. ß 16-46-101 (Michie 1999).
[2] Cal. Evid. Code ß 1550 (Deering 1999).
[3] Cal. Evid. Code ß 1551 (Deering 1999).
[4] Cal. Evid. Code ß 1531 (Deering 1999).
[5] Col. Rev. Stat. ß 13-26-102 (1999).
[6] Ga. Code Ann. ß 24-5-26 (1999).
[7] Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 16 ß 456 (West 1999).
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