In this article:
(a) A “writing” consists of letters, words, numbers, or their equivalent set down in any form.
(b) A “recording” consists of letters, words, numbers, or their equivalent recorded in any manner.
(c) A “photograph” means a photographic image or its equivalent stored in any form.
(d) An “original” of a writing or recording means the writing or recording itself or any counterpart intended to have the same effect by the person who executed or issued it. For electronically stored information, “original” means any printout — or other output readable by sight — if it accurately reflects the information. An “original” of a photograph includes the negative or a print from it.
(e) A “duplicate” means a counterpart produced by a mechanical, photographic, chemical, electronic, or other equivalent process or technique that accurately reproduces the original.
Summary and Explanation
Rule 1001 pertain to the definitions used in relation to the presentation of evidence in United States federal courts. Here’s a summary and explanation of the key elements:
- Definition of Writings and Recordings: Rule 1001 defines writings and recordings as any letters, words, or numbers, or their equivalent, set down in any form. This definition includes both traditional forms like handwritten or typed documents and modern forms like emails and text messages.
- Photographs: The term “photographs” under Rule 1001 includes still photographs, x-ray films, video tapes, and motion pictures. This broad definition recognizes various forms of visual media as potential evidence.
- Original: An “original” in the context of Rule 1001 refers to the actual document or recording itself, as opposed to copies or reproductions. The rule outlines that an original is necessary to prove the content unless the Federal Rules of Evidence or a federal statute provides otherwise.
- Duplicate: A “duplicate” is a counterpart produced by any technique that accurately reproduces the original. This can include carbon copies, photocopies, and electronic copies. Under certain conditions, duplicates can be admissible in place of the original.
- Admissibility of Duplicates: The rule generally allows duplicates to be used in the same manner as originals, unless there is a genuine question about the original’s authenticity or the circumstances make it unfair to use the duplicate in place of the original.
- Exceptions: Rule 1001 provides exceptions where the original is not required. These include instances where all originals are lost or destroyed (not in bad faith), where the original cannot be obtained by any available judicial process, or where the document is not closely related to the controlling issues.
In essence, Rule 1001 set the framework for what constitutes writings, recordings, and photographs in legal proceedings, and delineate when originals or duplicates of these materials are required or admissible as evidence. This rule plays a critical role in ensuring that evidence presented in court is authentic and reliable.
History
(Pub. L. 93–595, §1, Jan. 2, 1975, 88 Stat. 1945; Apr. 26, 2011, eff. Dec. 1, 2011.)
Notes of Advisory Committee on Proposed Rules
In an earlier day, when discovery and other related procedures were strictly limited, the misleading named “best evidence rule” afforded substantial guarantees against inaccuracies and fraud by its insistence upon production of original documents. The great enlargement of the scope of discovery and related procedures in recent times has measurably reduced the need for the rule. Nevertheless important areas of usefulness persist: discovery of documents outside the jurisdiction may require substantial outlay of time and money; the unanticipated document may not practically be discoverable; criminal cases have built-in limitations on discovery. Cleary and Strong, The Best Evidence Rule: An Evaluation in Context, 51 Iowa L.Rev. 825 (1966).
Paragraph (1). Traditionally the rule requiring the original centered upon accumulations of data and expressions affecting legal relations set forth in words and figures. This meant that the rule was one essentially related to writings. Present day techniques have expanded methods of storing data, yet the essential form which the information ultimately assumes for usable purposes is words and figures. Hence the considerations underlying the rule dictate its expansion to include computers, photographic systems, and other modern developments.
Paragraph (3). In most instances, what is an original will be self-evident and further refinement will be unnecessary. However, in some instances particularized definition is required. A carbon copy of a contract executed in duplicate becomes an original, as does a sales ticket carbon copy given to a customer. While strictly speaking the original of a photograph might be thought to be only the negative, practicality and common usage require that any print from the negative be regarded as an original. Similarly, practicality and usage confer the status of original upon any computer printout. Transport Indemnity Co. v. Seib, 178 Neb. 253, 132 N.W.2d 871 (1965).
Paragraph (4). The definition describes “copies” produced by methods possessing an accuracy which virtually eliminates the possibility of error. Copies thus produced are given the status of originals in large measure by Rule 1003, infra. Copies subsequently produced manually, whether handwritten or typed, are not within the definition. It should be noted that what is an original for some purposes may be a duplicate for others. Thus a bank’s microfilm record of checks cleared is the original as a record. However, a print offered as a copy of a check whose contents are in controversy is a duplicate. This result is substantially consistent with 28 U.S.C. §1732(b). Compare 26 U.S.C. §7513(c), giving full status as originals to photographic reproductions of tax returns and other documents, made by authority of the Secretary of the Treasury, and 44 U.S.C. §399(a), giving original status to photographic copies in the National Archives.
Notes of Committee on the Judiciary, House Report No. 93–650
The Committee amended this Rule expressly to include “video tapes” in the definition of “photographs.”
Committee Notes on Rules—2011 Amendment
The language of Rule 1001 has been amended as part of the restyling of the Evidence Rules to make them more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. These changes are intended to be stylistic only. There is no intent to change any result in any ruling on evidence admissibility.