Assuring the Competency of Computer-Generated Evidence, 9 Computer L.J. 103 (1989)
Randy Snyder · UIC Law Open Access Repository (University of Illinois at Chicago) · 1989
The advent of the computer raises new evidentiary concerns.Legal decisions will turn on evidence created or affected by a computer.Rules should be established which facilitate certainty with respect to the admissibility of computer-generated evidence.Such rules would help avoid the unnecessary expense of developing evidence which might be inadmissible.Probably the most common type of computer-generated evidence is computer-stored business records.The Federal Rules of Evidence currently provide standards for the admission of business records, but do not address the issues raised by records stored in a computer.'The effectiveness and rationale behind the business records hearsay exception should be re-evaluated in light of the new considerations posed by computers.Computers make it possible to create models and simulate real world conditions in a graphic and visual manner.Technological advances permit litigants to offer computer-generated evidence created specifically for use in litigation.Rules are needed to assure that demonstrative evidence of this type is used in a responsible manner.The rules of evidence must be examined to insure that they adequately address the issues posed by this new type of evidence.This Note will evaluate the types of computer-generated evidence that an attorney might want to use at trial, and discuss the conditions under which admissibility is supported by the evidentiary goals of the Federal Rules of Evidence.1. FED.P. EvID.803(6).See also Comment, Admitting Computer Generated Record&- A Presumption of Reliability, 18 J.MARSHALL L. REv.115 (1984) which provides a good general discussion of the admissibility of computer-generated business records.