Also known as: FRE 902 · Fed. R. Evid. 902 · Federal Rule of Evidence 902 · self-authentication rule
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A rule of evidence that identifies categories of documents and records that are self-authenticating and therefore admissible without extrinsic evidence of authenticity.
Rising Sun Electronics offers its customer transaction logs in a contract dispute. The company supplies a written declaration from its records manager stating that the logs were kept in the ordinary course of business. The declaration meets the requirements for certification under the rule, so the logs come in without calling the manager to the stand.
Roberto Reyes offers a photocopy of an FCC sanction order bearing an embossed agency seal and a stamp stating it is a certified true copy. The seal and stamp together satisfy the rule's criteria for self-authentication, allowing admission without testimony from an agency custodian.
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The document must bear a seal purporting to be that of the United States, a state, or a political subdivision or agency, along with a signature purporting to be an execution or attestation. The seal alone triggers self-authentication when these elements appear on the face of the document.
Yes. A copy certified as correct by the custodian or by a certificate complying with the rule qualifies as self-authenticating. The proponent need not produce the original or call the custodian when the certification requirements are met.
A business record may be authenticated by a certification that complies with Rule 902(11) or (12) instead of live custodian testimony. The opponent may still challenge trustworthiness under the hearsay exception, but the certification satisfies the authentication requirement.
Yes. A document accompanied by a lawfully executed certificate of acknowledgment from a notary public is self-authenticating. The notarial certificate itself supplies the required assurance of authenticity without additional foundational testimony.
…Evid. 902(4) (in order to be self-authenticating, a copy of a public record must be "certified as correct by the custodian"); Rule 902(11) (business record must be "accompanied by a written declaration of its custodian"). Under one possible reading of the Court's opinion, recordkeepers will be required to testify. So far,…