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Citation[]

State v. Veres, 7 Ariz. App. 117, 436 P.2d 629 (1968) (full-text).

Factual Background[]

The defendant was charged, inter alia, with passing bad checks. As evidence, the State introduced bank records for a two month period, consisting of four separate sheets. These records were generated by a computer, and showed the number of bad checks, and the amount of each. A bank official was called to testify to the identity of the records, though he did not know the mechanical operation of the computer. The defendant objected to admission of the evidence.

Trial Court Proceedings[]

The court relied on the Business Records Rule:

Any 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.[1]

as the general law applicable to computer-generated evidence. The court emphasized the relevance of the clause "in the opinion of the court" in the statute and, based on the evidence admitted and the testimony of the bank official, held that there was "an absence of an abuse of discretion by the trial judge in admitting the exhibit in evidence.”[2]

References[]

  1. Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §12-2262.
  2. 7 Ariz. App. at 126, 436 P.2d at 638.
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