US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

(1) The requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.

(2) By way of illustration only, and not by way of limitation, the following are examples of authentication or identification conforming with the requirements of this rule:

(a) Testimony that a matter is what it is claimed to be;

(b) Nonexpert opinion as to the genuineness of handwriting, based upon familiarity not acquired for purposes of the litigation;

(c) Comparison by the trier of fact or by expert witnesses with specimens which have been authenticated;

(d) Appearance, contents, substance, internal patterns, or other distinctive characteristics, taken in conjunction with circumstances;

(e) Identification of a voice, whether heard first-hand or through mechanical or electronic transmission or recording, by opinion based upon hearing the voice at any time under circumstances connecting it with the alleged speaker;

(f) Telephone conversations, by evidence that a call was made to the number assigned at the time by the telephone company to a particular person or business, if (i) in the case of a person, circumstances, including self-identification, show the person answering to be the one called, or (ii) in the case of a business, the call was made to a place of business and the conversation related to business reasonably transacted over the telephone;

(g) Evidence that a writing authorized by law to be recorded or filed and in fact recorded or filed in a public office, or a purported public record, report, statement, or data compilation, in any form, is from the public office where items of this nature are kept;

(h) Evidence that a document or data compilation, in any form, (i) is in such condition as to create no suspicion concerning its authenticity, (ii) was in a place where it, if authentic, would likely be, and (iii) has been in existence thirty years or more at the time it is offered;

(i) Evidence describing a process or system used to produce a result and showing that the process or system produces an accurate result; and

(j) Any method of authentication or identification provided by act of the Legislature or by other rules adopted by the Supreme Court which are not in conflict with laws governing such matters.

Laws 1975, LB 279, § 61

Note found on defendant at time of arrest, which defendant identifies as "a note I wrote," may be admitted under subsection (2) of this section, which provides that an item of evidence may be authenticated or identified by testimony that a matter is what it is claimed to be. State v. Patman, 227 Neb. 206, 416 N.W.2d 582 (1987).

The purpose of this section is to require that evidence must be sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims. Making certain that the defendants uttered the exact words used in the assaults was not critical in ensuring that the voices the victim heard when the assaults took place were those of the defendants. State v. Ferris, 212 Neb. 835, 326 N.W.2d 185 (1982).