Also known as: domestic record of regularly conducted activity · business records exception · FRE 803(6)
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A category of self-authenticating documents consisting of records of a regularly conducted activity that are created and kept in the ordinary course of a domestic business or organization. The category requires that the record be made at or near the time of the event by someone with knowledge, kept in the course of regularly conducted activity, and that making the record was a regular practice of that activity.
After a train collision, Dixon Foods' safety officer prepared an internal accident summary detailing the incident and potential liability. The company later offered the summary at trial to prove the cause of the crash. The court excluded the document because it was prepared primarily in anticipation of litigation rather than as part of the ordinary conduct of the railroad business.
In a sexual assault prosecution, the state introduced a DNA profile report prepared by a private laboratory that regularly tests forensic samples for law enforcement agencies. The lab maintained the report as part of its standard testing and recordkeeping procedures. The court admitted the report over a confrontation objection because the document qualified as a domestic record of regularly conducted activity created in the ordinary course of the lab's business.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The record must be made at or near the time of the event by a person with knowledge, kept in the course of a regularly conducted activity, and created as a regular practice of that activity. It must also be domestic rather than foreign.
Supporting sources
Yes. A report made primarily because litigation is expected does not qualify even if the organization follows a regular practice of creating such reports. The primary purpose must be the regular conduct of the enterprise rather than preparation for trial.
No. The informant who supplied the information must have been under a business duty to report it. Statements from outsiders with no such duty remain inadmissible hearsay even if the record itself is kept in the regular course of business.
…would entitle the defendant to Confrontation Clause protection. Cf. 2 Wigmore, Evidence §1527, at 1892 (in respect to the business records exception, “there must have been no motive to misrepresent”). Thus, the defendant would remain free to show the absence or inadequacy of the alternative reliability/honesty safeguards, thereby…