Section 9.17 Business Records

• Library: Civil Trial Practice 2015 Supp

2. (§9.17) Business Records

Every business record constitutes hearsay because it represents an out-of-court declaration (the entry) made by a person who is not available for cross-examination (the person who made the entry). The record will be admitted into evidence, despite the hearsay objection, if it is properly identified and authenticated.

Missouri, like many other states, has adopted The Uniform Business Records as Evidence Law, §§ 490.660, et seq., RSMo 2000, which sets forth the things that must be shown in order to lay a proper foundation for the introduction of a business record into evidence:

A record of an act, condition, or event, shall, insofar as relevant, be competent evidence if the custodian or other qualified witness testifies to its identity and the mode of its preparation, and if it was made in the regular course of business, at or near the time of the act, condition or event, and if, in the opinion of the court, the sources of information, method and time of preparation were such as to justify its admission.

Section 490.680, RSMo 2000.

To testify regarding a record, the witness needs only to establish that he or she is qualified to give the information required by the business records exception to the hearsay rule. Stivers Lincoln-Mercury, Inc. v. Abbott, 796 S.W.2d 923, 925 (Mo. App. E.D. 1990). The witness must establish that:

· he or she is the...