Also known as: record of a regularly conducted activity · regularly conducted activity records · business records exception · FRE 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. The record must have been made at or near the time by someone with knowledge or from information transmitted by such a person. It must have been kept in the course of a regularly conducted activity of a business or other organization, and making the record must have been a regular practice of that activity.
After a train derailment, Redline Automotive's safety officer prepared an internal accident summary following company protocol. The summary described track conditions and crew actions. When a passenger later sued, the company offered the summary to prove the crew's conduct. The court excluded it because the report was created primarily in anticipation of litigation rather than as part of the company's core railroading operations.
In a criminal prosecution, the state offered a DNA analysis report prepared by a private laboratory that routinely tested samples for law enforcement agencies. The lab's standard practice was to record test results immediately after analysis and to maintain those records in its ordinary course of business. The court admitted the report over a hearsay objection because the document satisfied the requirements for records of a regularly conducted activity.
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The proponent must establish that the record was made at or near the time by someone with knowledge, that it was kept in the course of a regularly conducted activity, and that making the record was a regular practice of that activity. These elements are typically shown through the testimony of a custodian or other qualified witness.
No. A record prepared in anticipation of litigation rather than in the ordinary conduct of the enterprise's business falls outside the exception. Courts have excluded accident reports made by railroad personnel because the primary purpose was litigation preparation, not the regular business of railroading.
A police report entry is inadmissible when it rests on information from a third person who had no business duty to report to the police. The exception requires that the informant be under a business duty to convey the information.
…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…