CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
House Bill 0131e1




                                           HB 131, First Engrossed



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to foreign records of regularly

  3         conducted business activity; amending s. 92.60,

  4         F.S.; providing for admissibility in civil

  5         proceedings of such records under a specified

  6         exception to the hearsay rule; requiring 60

  7         days' written notice of a party's intention to

  8         offer civil trial evidence of such records;

  9         providing an effective date.

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11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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13         Section 1.  Subsection (2) of section 92.60, Florida

14  Statutes, is amended, present subsection (4) of that section

15  is redesignated as subsection (5) and amended, and a new

16  subsection (4) is added to that section, to read:

17         92.60  Foreign records of regularly conducted business

18  activity.--

19         (2)  In a criminal or civil proceeding in a court of

20  the State of Florida, a foreign record of regularly conducted

21  business activity, or a copy of such record, shall not be

22  excluded as evidence by the hearsay rule if a foreign

23  certification attests that:

24         (a)  Such record was made at or near the time of the

25  occurrence of the matters set forth by, or from information

26  transmitted by, a person with knowledge of those matters;

27         (b)  Such record was kept in the course of a regularly

28  conducted business activity;

29         (c)  The business activity made such a record as a

30  regular practice; and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






                                           HB 131, First Engrossed



  1         (d)  If such record is not the original, it is a

  2  duplicate of the original;

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  4  unless the source of information or the method or

  5  circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness.

  6         (4)  No evidence in such records in the form of opinion

  7  or diagnosis is admissible under subsection (2) unless such

  8  opinion or diagnosis would be admissible under ss.

  9  90.701-90.705 if the person whose opinion is recorded were to

10  testify to the opinion directly.

11         (5)(4)  At the arraignment or as soon after the

12  arraignment as practicable, or 60 days prior to a civil trial,

13  a party intending to offer in evidence under this section a

14  foreign record of regularly conducted business activity shall

15  provide written notice of that intention to each other party.

16  A motion opposing admission in evidence of such record shall

17  be made by the opposing party and determined by the court

18  before trial.  Failure by a party to file such motion before

19  trial shall constitute a waiver of objection to such record or

20  duplicate, but the court for cause shown may grant relief from

21  the waiver.

22         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1997.

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