Skiles

faxed copies of certified court records admissible to establish that a prior conviction qualifies as a serious or violent felony under the “Three Strikes” law?

In this case, the prosecutor presented certified copies of court records from the Circuit Court of Lauderdale County, Alabama to prove that defendant had suffered an out-of-state prior serious felony conviction. During the court trial on the prior conviction, it was determined that the proffered certified copies were incomplete and provided insufficient proof. The prosecutor sought to obtain more evidence over the lunch recess. After the recess, the prosecutor offered a single page of an indictment that she had obtained from the Alabama clerk’s office by fax. Over defendant’s objection on foundational grounds, the trial court admitted the faxed copy of the original certified document.

In upholding the trial court’s ruling, the Court of Appeal determined that the faxed copy had been authenticated by its content and circumstantial evidence. The court compared the content of the faxed document with the other undisputed original certified copies of court records in the Alabama case and concluded that the faxed…