Section 8.5 Admissibility of Computer-Generated or Enhanced Evidence

• Library: Sources of Proof (2014 Ed.)

E. (§8.5) Admissibility of Computer-Generated or Enhanced Evidence

Technological advancements have resulted in new tools available for presentation of evidence. For instance, in Bray v. Bi-State Dev. Corp., 949 S.W.2d 93, 96 (Mo. App. E.D. 1997), the court addressed a lack-of-foundation objection as to the validity of the software program for a computer-generated chart introduced at trial. The court hesitated to formulate a bright-line rule to establish proper foundation of computer-generated evidence, but based its decision to uphold the admissibility of the chart at issue on two important elements:

1. Compliance with § 490.065, now RSMo 2000, which allows an expert to base an opinion on facts and data “of a type reasonably relied upon by experts in the field in forming opinions or inferences upon the subject and . . . otherwise reasonably reliable,” § 490.065.3

2. Pretrial disclosure, Bray, 949 S.W.2d at 99; see also FED. R. EVID. 901

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