Tag: Rule 236

Hotel Registration Data Considered Computer-Stored and Computer-Generated Business Records – IL Appeals Court

Super 8 and Motel 6 registration records take center stage in an Illinois appeals court’s discussion of the razor-thin difference between computer-stored and computer-generated business records.

In People v. Schwab, 2019 IL App (4th), a sexual assault defendant argued the trial court erroneously admitted his hotel check-in records during a jury trial that culminated in a guilty verdict and long prison sentence.

The prosecution offered hotel records into evidence at trial to place the defendant at a certain location and at a fixed date and time. Over the defendant’s hearsay objection, the trial court allowed the records into evidence. Defendant appealed his conviction and 25-year sentence.

Affirming, the appeals court first provided a useful gloss on hearsay rules generally and then drilled down to the specific rules governing business records.

Hearsay is an out of court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted and is typically excluded for its inherent lack of reliability.  The business-records exception allows for the admission of a writing or record where (1) the writing or record was made as a memorandum or record of the event, (2) it was made in the regular course of business, and (3) it was the regular course of business to make the record at the time of the transaction or within a reasonable time thereafter.

Anyone familiar with a business can testify as to business records, and the original entrant (i.e. the person inputting the data) doesn’t have to be a witness for the records to get into evidence. [⁋ 37]

Additional foundation is required when a business record is contained on a computer.  Illinois courts recognize the distinction between (a) computer-stored records and (b) computer-generated records.

The foundation for admitting computer-generated records is less stringent than that governing computer-stored ones. Computer-generated records are deemed intrinsically more reliable than their computer-stored counterparts.

Print-outs of computer-stored records are admissible as a hearsay exception where (1) the computer equipment is recognized as standard, (2) the input is entered in the regular course of business reasonably close in time to the happening of the event recorded, and (3) the foundation testimony establishes that the source of information, method and time of preparation indicate its trustworthiness and justifies its admission. [⁋ 38]

For computer-generated records, the admissibility threshold is more relaxed: the proponent only needs to show the recording device was accurate and operating properly when the data was generated.

The Court found that the Super 8 reservation records were computer-generated (and therefore subject to less stringent admissibility rules). The hotel’s front desk clerk’s trial testimony established that the hotel’s reservation record was automatically generated by a hotel computer at the time someone books a reservation.

According to the Court, that data may have originally been input into a third-party website (like Priceline or Expedia) didn’t cast doubt on the records’ reliability.  All that mattered was that the registration record was created automatically and contemporaneously (with the on-line reservation) to qualify as computer-generated records.

The Court agreed with the defendant that two Motel 6 records offered as prosecution trial exhibits were computer-stored. The court found that the computer records created when a guest checked in required the hotel clerk to scan the guest’s identification card and to manually input the guest’s check-in and check-out times and payment information. Since this information was the end result of human data entry, the records were deemed computer-stored.

Even so, the Court found that the State sufficiently laid the foundation for the computer-stored data. The Court credited the Motel 6 hotel clerk’s testimony that the franchise’s check-in procedures were uniform and the hotel’s computer booking system was standard in the hospitality industry.  Taken together, the testimony concerning Motel 6’s integrated check-in processes and its use of industry-standard reservation software was enough to meet the computer-stored evidence admissibility threshold.

Afterwords: Despite Schwab’s disturbing fact-pattern, the case has value for civil and criminal trial practitioners alike for its trenchant discussion of business records exception to the hearsay rule and the admissibility standards for computer-generated and computer-stored records.

Computer-Generated Business Records and Summary Judgment Affidavits – IL Law

bizrecordsIn US National Bank v. Avdic, 2014 IL App (1st) 121759-U, the First District provides a detailed analysis of both the evidentiary foundation requirements for computer-generated business records and the requirements of a valid summary judgment affidavit.

The plaintiff lender filed a foreclosure suit against the borrower defendant and moved for summary judgment.  The lender supported its motion with the affidavit of a bank officer who attached sworn copies of key loan documents, the promissory note and a computer-generated payment history for the defendant borrower’s account.

The defendant moved to strike the bank’s affidavit on the basis that it failed to lay a sufficient foundation for the attached loan and payment records and didn’t establish that the bank employee who signed the affidavit had first-hand knowledge of the defendant’s payment history.  The trial court entered summary judgment for the lender and denied the borrower’s motion to strike the affidavit.  The borrower appealed.

Result: Trial court affirmed. Plaintiff-lender wins.

Q: How Come?

A: The lender’s summary judgment affidavit complied with Illinois Supreme Court Rule 191 – the rule that governs summary judgment affidavits.  Rule 191 requires affidavit to state specific facts and to be based on personal knowledge instead of conclusions or guess-work.  Affidavits are substitutes for live trial testimony and because of that, must pass a stringent test for admission in evidence.  US Bank, ¶¶ 22-25.

To lay a foundation for admitting business records as a hearsay exception, the party must show that the records were (1) made in the regular course of business; and (2) at or near the time of the event or occurrence.  Rule 803(6) and Supreme Court Rule 236 work in tandem to codify the business records exception to the hearsay rule.  US Bank, ¶¶ 24-26.

Where computer-generated records are involved, the proponent must demonstrate (1) that the computer equipment is standard equipment, (2) the computerized entries were made in the regular course of business (3) at or reasonably near in time to the events recorded and (4) that the sources of information, the method of data entry and preparation are all trustworthy.  US Bank, ¶26.

The Court found that the lender’s affidavit met the relevant Rule 191 criteria.  The bank officer testified that she was familiar with the lender’s business practices, records and its manner of inputting, tracking and generating payment information.  She also testified in detail what steps the bank takes when creating, storing and printing loan and payment records.  The officer also said she reviewed the loan file, promissory note and related documents.  She also attached the key loan documents to the affidavit. ¶¶ 30-31.

The affidavit also met the admissibility standards for computer-generated payment records.  The bank officer described the computer software used by the bank to create and print out loan payment histories and testified that the software program used was standard and customary in the banking industry.  The officer even said that the computer equipment was periodically checked for accuracy. ¶¶ 29-30.

The court also found there was no requirement that the officer have first-hand knowledge of the borrower’s account or that she (the officer) personally made the payment entries into the bank’s computer for the affidavit to conform to Rule 191’s requirements.  Under Rule 236 and Illinois Evidence Rule 803(6), a lack of personal knowledge can affect the weight given to testimony; but it won’t bar that testimony outright.

Take-aways:  To get computer business records into evidence on summary judgment, the mo any should itemize each foundational requirement for those records.  A business entity plaintiff especially should establish that the person signing a summary judgment affidavit is familiar with the business’s record-keeping and billing processes and can testify to any unique billing and payment software used by the business.