Also known as: Fed. R. Evid. 803(6) · Rule 803(6) · FRE 803(6)(B) · business records exception · hearsay exception 803(6)
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A hearsay exception that admits a record of an act, event, condition, opinion, or diagnosis if the record was made at or near the time by someone with knowledge, kept in the course of a regularly conducted activity, and it was the regular practice of that activity to make the record.
After a train derailment, Fairview Manufacturing's safety officer prepared an internal accident report following the company's standard form. The report detailed track conditions and crew actions. When a passenger later sued, the company offered the report at trial. The court excluded it because the primary purpose was to prepare for potential litigation rather than to document ordinary business operations.
In a criminal prosecution, the state offered a DNA analysis report prepared by a private laboratory that regularly tested samples for law enforcement agencies. A lab supervisor testified that the report was created at the time of testing by analysts with personal knowledge and kept according to the lab's standard procedures. The court admitted the report under the business records exception because its creation served the lab's ordinary commercial activity.
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A record loses protection when its primary purpose is to prepare for litigation rather than to document the ordinary conduct of the enterprise. Courts examine whether the maker's motivation was to facilitate the business or to create evidence for anticipated lawsuits.
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Yes. The exception requires that the information come from an informant who was under a business duty to convey the facts accurately. Statements from outsiders with no such duty remain inadmissible hearsay even if incorporated into an otherwise qualifying record.
Supporting sources
They may qualify if the lab's regular commercial practice includes creating such reports for paying clients and the reports are not prepared solely for the purpose of the current prosecution. The exception turns on whether the record serves the entity's ordinary business rather than an external litigation goal.
Supporting sources
…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…