§ 90.803(6), Fla. Stat. — Business Records Exception
Part of § 90.803 — Hearsay Exceptions (Declarant Availability Immaterial).
Plain English
This is how the paper — and digital — backbone of a case gets into evidence: invoices, ledgers, medical bills, maintenance logs, the emails kept in the ordinary course of business. The logic is that records a business makes routinely, at or near the time, by someone with knowledge, as its regular practice, are reliable enough to trust without dragging in everyone who ever touched them. You lay that foundation through a records custodian or other qualified witness — or, increasingly, through a written certification under § 90.902(11), which skips live testimony if you give the other side advance notice and a chance to object. Two catches: an opinion or diagnosis buried in the record only comes in if it would be admissible from a live expert (§§ 90.701–90.705), and the whole exception collapses if the circumstances show a lack of trustworthiness.
From the Courtroom
Cases are won and lost on the records custodian. Forget to establish that the records were made at or near the time, by someone with knowledge, as a regular practice — and a thousand pages of flawless documentation can vanish with one sustained objection. The certification route under 90.902(11) is the safety net, but only if you served the notice in time.
Key Points & Authority
- § 90.803(6)(a): a record of acts, events, conditions, opinions, or diagnoses, made at or near the time by (or from info transmitted by) a person with knowledge, kept in the regular course of business as a regular practice — proven by a custodian/qualified witness or by certification under § 90.902(11), unless untrustworthy.
- (b) opinions/diagnoses in the record are admissible only if they’d be admissible from a live witness under §§ 90.701–90.705; (c) the certification route requires reasonable written notice and an opportunity to inspect/object (pretrial motion or waiver).
- Federal parallel: Fed. R. Evid. 803(6) — the same elements, with self-authenticating certifications under FRE 902(11)–(12).
Federal Parallel
The federal counterpart is Fed. R. Evid. 803(6), the records-of-a-regularly-conducted-activity exception, paired with the self-authentication certifications in FRE 902(11)–(12) — closely mirroring Florida’s § 90.803(6) and § 90.902(11).
About this rule walkthrough
Part of The Evidence Code, hosted by John M. Phillips — Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, Court TV analyst, admitted in 8 states + 9 federal districts + SCOTUS.
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Educational only — not legal advice.
Rule Text (verbatim from the Florida Supreme Court)
(6) RECORDS OF REGULARLY CONDUCTED BUSINESS ACTIVITY.—
(a) A memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, in any form, of acts, events, conditions, opinion, or diagnosis, made at or near the time by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity and if it was the regular practice of that business activity to make such memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, all as shown by the testimony of the custodian or other qualified witness, or as shown by a certification or declaration that complies with paragraph (c) and s. 90.902(11), unless the sources of information or other circumstances show lack of trustworthiness. The term “business” as used in this paragraph includes a business, institution, association, profession, occupation, and calling of every kind, whether or not conducted for profit.
(b) Evidence in the form of an opinion or diagnosis is inadmissible under paragraph (a) unless such opinion or diagnosis would be admissible under ss. 90.701-90.705 if the person whose opinion is recorded were to testify to the opinion directly.
(c) A party intending to offer evidence under paragraph (a) by means of a certification or declaration shall serve reasonable written notice of that intention upon every other party and shall make the evidence available for inspection sufficiently in advance of its offer in evidence to provide to any other party a fair opportunity to challenge the admissibility of the evidence. A motion opposing admissibility must be made and determined by the court before trial; failure to file such a motion before trial constitutes a waiver of objection, but the court for good cause shown may grant relief from the waiver.
Educational reference. Educational only — not legal advice.
What this rule means in plain English
The business-records exception (§90.803(6)) admits records made at or near the time by a person with knowledge, kept in the regular course of business as a regular practice, proven by a custodian/qualified witness or a §90.902(11) certification, unless untrustworthy.