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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    February 07, 2008

    Foundational Checklist for Admitting as Evidence Records Created by a Process

    To demonstrate authenticity for process-generated records, the proponent is required to introduce evidence that describes a process or a system used to produce a result and to show that the process or system produces an accurate result. How much detail the proponent should provide depends on the complexity or familiarity of the record at hand.

    Wisconsin LawyerWisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 81, No. 2, February 2008

    Foundational Checklist for Admitting as Evidence Records Created by a Process

    To demonstrate authenticity for process-generated records, the proponent is required to introduce evidence that describes a process or a system used to produce a result and to show that the process or system produces an accurate result. How much detail the proponent should provide depends on the complexity or familiarity of the record at hand. The foundations for many computer-generated records will not require the proponent to cover each point noted in the comprehensive checklist below.

    1) The improbability that the records have been altered, which may include:

    • the chain of custody for the evidence;
    • the internal and external security built into the system and the security procedures in place;
    • how changes in the database are recorded and how this information shows that the records have not been altered;
    • how the records were produced, in particular whether the records were printed or relied upon before litigation; and
    • if the records were obtained pursuant to a forensic process, an explanation of how the records were duplicated and analyzed.

    2) The completeness of the record:

    • how the data is input into the computer _ whether complete data was fed into the process (for example, check kite or tax record analysis);
    • processing _ what the computer and program are asked to do; and
    • output _ how the record is retrieved from the computer.

    3) The reliability of the computer program and equipment:

    • whether the program and equipment are used routinely;
    • absence of prior problems;
    • ability of hardware/program to detect errors;
    • whether the equipment is regularly checked;
    • whether the program and equipment produce a testable result; and
    • whether the output is routinely verified:
    • automatically as part of the program;
    • by a complementary system that would not work if errors occurred in the program or equipment producing the proposed record; or
    • by other external controls.

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