RCW 10.96.030 Authenticity of records—Verification—Affidavit, declaration, or certification.

(1) Upon written request from the applicant, or if ordered by the court, the recipient of criminal process shall verify the authenticity of records that it produces by providing an affidavit, declaration, or certification that complies with subsection (2) of this section. The requirements of RCW 5.45.020 regarding business records as evidence may be satisfied by an affidavit, declaration, or certification that complies with subsection (2) of this section, without the need for testimony from the custodian of records, regardless of whether the business records were produced by a foreign or Washington state entity.

(2) To be admissible without testimony from the custodian of records, business records must be accompanied by an affidavit, declaration, or certification by its record custodian or other qualified person that includes contact information for the witness completing the document and attests to the following:

(a) The witness is the custodian of the record or sets forth evidence that the witness is qualified to testify about the record;

(b) The record was made at or near the time of the act, condition, or event set forth in the record by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge of those matters;

(c) The record was made in the regular course of business;

(d) The identity of the record and the mode of its preparation; and

(e) Either that the record is the original or that it is a duplicate that accurately reproduces the original.

(3) A party intending to offer a record into evidence under this section must provide written notice of that intention to all adverse parties, and must make the record and affidavit, declaration, or certification available for inspection sufficiently in advance of their offer into evidence to provide an adverse party with a fair opportunity to challenge them. A motion opposing admission in evidence of the record shall be made and determined by the court before trial and with sufficient time to allow the party offering the record time, if the motion is granted, to produce the custodian of the record or other qualified person at trial, without creating hardship on the party or on the custodian or other qualified person.

(4) Failure by a party to timely file a motion under subsection (4) of this section shall constitute a waiver of objection to admission of the evidence, but the court for good cause shown may grant relief from the waiver. When the court grants relief from the waiver, and thereafter determines the custodian of the record shall appear, a continuance of the trial may be granted to provide the proponent of the record sufficient time to arrange for the necessary witness to appear.

(5) Nothing in this section precludes either party from calling the custodian of record of the record or other witness to testify regarding the record.

[ 2008 c 21 § 4.]