State v. Frederiksen

400 N.W.2d 225, 224 Neb. 653, 1987 Neb. LEXIS 792
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 30, 1987
Docket86-577
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 400 N.W.2d 225 (State v. Frederiksen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Frederiksen, 400 N.W.2d 225, 224 Neb. 653, 1987 Neb. LEXIS 792 (Neb. 1987).

Opinion

Hastings, J.

The defendant appeals the affirmance by the district court for Douglas County of his conviction in the county court for Douglas County for second offense driving while intoxicated.

On October 15, 1985, the defendant consumed four or five beers at a friend’s house. On the way home the defendant had to take evasiive action to avoid an oncoming car and in so doing struck a tree. He hit his head against the windshield and was in a daze aftenthe accident.

The officer who arrived at the scene testified that he detected a moderate odor of alcohol coming from the defendant and that the defendant was unsure of his footing. The officer asked the defendant to perform field sobriety tests. The defendant responded that he had multiple sclerosis and could not accomplish the tests. The officer took the defendant to his cruiser and asked him to perform verbal sobriety tests. Based on his observations of the defendant, the officer concluded the defendant was under the influence of alcohol to a sufficient extent to 'impair his ability to operate a motor vehicle. On cross-examination, however, the officer did admit that the defendant’s inability to pass the sobriety tests could have been caused by.'the injury he sustained in the accident.

The defendant was taken to the police station, where a breath test was performed during the early morning hours of October 16. The reading was .214 percent weight by volume. At trial the defendant objected to the admission of photocopies of *655 documentary evidence relating to the testing and maintenance of the Intoxilyzer machine and the license possessed by the person who performed the test.

On appeal the defendant contends the county court erred when it allowed photocopies of that documentary evidence to be admitted into evidence without first requiring the State to have brought the originals to trial for inspection by the defendant. Because that documentary evidence provided the foundation for the admission of the breath test, the defendant also contends the county court erred when it admitted the breath test result into evidence. Finally, the defendant contends that, because the breath test was improperly admitted, the county court erred when it found the defendant guilty of violating Neb. Rev. Stat. § 39-669.07(2) (Reissue 1984). We affirm the district court’s determination that the county court did not err.

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-1002 (Reissue 1985) governs the introduction of documents into evidence. That section provides in part: “To prove the content of a writing . . . the original writing ... is required, except as otherwise provided in these rules ...” One of the exceptions to this rule is that found in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-1003 (Reissue 1985). That section provides: “A duplicate is admissible to the same extent as an original unless (1) a genuine question is raised as to the authenticity of the original or (2) in the circumstances it would be unfair to admit the duplicate in lieu of the original.” Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-1001(4) (Reissue 1985) in pertinent part defines “duplicate” as “a counterpart produced ... by means of photography ... or by other equivalent techniques which accurately reproduce the original.” Thus, in order to be a duplicate, a photocopy must be an accurate reproduction of the original document. Here, the witnesses who supplied the foundation for the documentary evidence testified the photocopies were exact copies of the originals. Therefore, the State properly established that the copies introduced were “duplicates” of the original documents and were properly admissible unless “(1) a genuine question is raised as to the authenticity of the original or (2) in the circumstances it would be unfair to admit the duplicate in lieu of the original.” *656 § 27-1003.

The burden of raising an issue as to the authenticity of the original is on the party opposing admission. United States v. Georgalis, 631 F.2d 1199 (5th Cir. 1980); United States v. DiMatteo, 716 F.2d 1361 (11th Cir. 1983). See State v. Costello, 199 Neb. 43, 256 N.W.2d 97 (1977). It follows then that it is also the defendant’s burden to show how in the circumstances it would be unfair to admit the duplicate.

At trial the defendant did not question the authenticity of the originals. Instead, he merely argued that the State should have produced the originals at trial so he could review them. With reference to at least one exhibit, defendant indicated that he would not have objected to the State’s withdrawing the original and substituting a copy. Although not articulated as such, the defendant’s argument is basically one of “unfairness.” He believes it is unfair to admit duplicates of available original documents in the control of the State when he has not had a chance to make sure the originals actually exist and to compare them to the duplicates.

In support of this argument the defendant cites State v. Costello, supra. In that case, to prove an insufficient funds charge, the State was allowed to introduce photocopies of the checks in question. One of the reasons this court affirmed the district court’s admission of those checks into evidence was because the originals had been returned to either the payees or the defendant. The defendant in this case believes that was the only reason the admission of those checks in Costello was proper. That is not the case. As we stated:

In this case there is no genuine question raised at trial as to the authenticity of the original checks received by the Wisconsin bank.... Contrary to defendant’s contention, the photocopies are legible such that the signatures of the drawer and payee, and the amount and date of each check are discernible. The officer of the Wisconsin bank testified to the fact that the photocopies are accurate representations of the originals, and he had personally reviewed the originals before they were photocopied and returned unpaid. Under the circumstances of the case, it was not unfair to admit the duplicates in lieu of the *657 originals.

Id. at 55-56, 256 N.W.2d at 105.

Similarly, the defendant in this case did not meet his burden of showing the “unfairness” of introducing the photocopies into evidence. First, the record does not indicate that, prior to trial, the defendant ever asked to review the documents in question or that the State refused to comply with any such requests. Second, the witnesses who supplied the foundation for the documentary evidence testified the photocopies were exact copies of the originals.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
400 N.W.2d 225, 224 Neb. 653, 1987 Neb. LEXIS 792, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-frederiksen-neb-1987.