Requirement of Original, Admissibility of Duplicates — Rules 1002, 1003, 1004, and 1005

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

Requirement of Original, Admissibility of Duplicates — Rules 1002, 1003, 1004, and 1005

SUMMARY OF RULES 1002, 1003, 1004, and 1005

Rule 1002 — Requirement of Original

• Known as the best evidence rule.
• The original writing, recording, or photograph is required to prove content.

Rule 1003—Admissibility of Duplicates

• A duplicate is admissible unless a genuine question is raised as to authenticity or it would be unfair to admit the duplicate in lieu of the original.

Rule 1004—Admissibility of Other Evidence of Contents

• Other evidence is admissible if:

○ The original is lost or destroyed (unless the proponent lost or destroyed it in bad faith).
○ The original cannot be obtained by any judicial process.
○ The original is in the possession of the opponent and, with prior notice, the opponent does not produce the original at the hearing.
○ The writing, recording, or photograph is not closely related to a controlling issue.

Rule 1005—Public Records

• The contents of an official record or document recorded or filed, including data compilations in any form, if otherwise admissible, may be proved by certified copy, in accordance with CRE 902, or testified to be correct by a witness who has compared it to the original.
• If a copy that complies with the foregoing cannot be obtained by exercise of reasonable diligence, other evidence of the contents may be given.

LEGAL AUTHORITIES

• The proponent of secondary evidence due to a lost original has the burden to prove the absence of bad faith. Rodriguez v. Schutt, 896 P.2d 881 (Colo. App. 1994), rev'd in part on other grounds, 914 P.2d 921 (Colo. 1996).

• The court determines in its discretion whether the proponent exercised reasonable diligence to locate the original. In re Marriage of Plummer, 709 P.2d 1388 (Colo. App. 1985) (general warranty deed of wife's separate property in Missouri was not admissible as it was not certified and husband had no personal knowledge of where the deed was obtained).

• If alterations or notations have been made to a duplicate of an otherwise admissible document, the duplicate may still be admissible with a satisfactory explanation. People v. Wolfe, 662 P.2d 502 (Colo. App. 1983).

• Microfilm copies (of driver's licenses) that were properly compared by a custodian witness were admissible. People v. Weese, 753 P.2d 778 (Colo. App. 1987).

• The Uniform Photographic Records Act, C.R.S. §§ 13-26-101 through 104, provides that if any business, institution, member of profession, or...