2020 Georgia Code
Title 24 - Evidence
Chapter 10 - Best Evidence Rule
§ 24-10-1006. Summaries
The contents of otherwise admissible voluminous writings, recordings, or photographs which cannot conveniently be examined in court may be presented in the form of a chart, summary, or calculation. The originals, or duplicates, shall be made available for examination or copying, or both, by other parties at a reasonable time and place. The court may order that the contents of such writings, recordings, or photographs be produced in court.
(Code 1981, §24-10-1006, enacted by Ga. L. 2011, p. 99, § 2/HB 24.)
Cross references.- Summaries to prove content, Fed. R. Evid. 1006.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Editor's notes.
- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former Code 1933, §§ 38-203, 38-205, and former O.C.G.A. § 24-5-29 are included in the annotations for this Code section.
Summary of accounting book entries.
- When pertinent and essential facts can be ascertained only by an examination of a large number of entries in books of account, an auditor or an expert accountant who has made an examination and analysis of the books and figures may testify as a witness and give summarized statements of what the books show as a result of the investigation, provided the books themselves are accessible to the court and the parties. Stewart v. State, 246 Ga. 70, 268 S.E.2d 906 (1980) (decided under former Code 1933, §§ 38-203, 38-205); Jackson v. Meadows, 157 Ga. App. 569, 278 S.E.2d 8 (1981);.
For a discussion of the admissibility of summaries of business records, see Tyner v. Sheriff, 164 Ga. App. 360, 297 S.E.2d 114 (1982) (decided under former O.C.G.A. § 24-5-29).
Loan history report properly admitted.
- Trial court properly admitted the bank's loan history report as a business record because the report provided a description of each transaction relating to the estate's loan from the loan's inception, along with a corresponding posting date for each transaction, the transaction amount, and any change to the principal balance resulting from the transaction, and was not a summary. Roberts v. Cmty. & S. Bank, 331 Ga. App. 364, 771 S.E.2d 68 (2015).
Bank's computer screen shot insufficient proof of damages in loan case.
- In an action on a loan, a bank did not submit sufficient evidence to prove the bank's damages because a printout of the bank's electronic records reflecting the amounts then owed, without a detailed transaction history, was a summary requiring evidence that the underlying records were too voluminous to examine in court pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 24-10-1006, not a business record under O.C.G.A. § 24-8-803(6). D'Agnese v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 335 Ga. App. 659, 782 S.E.2d 714 (2016).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
ALR.
- Requirement of notice as condition for admission in evidence of summary of voluminous records, 80 A.L.R.3d 405.
