People v. Skiles

Summary

The California Supreme Court held that a faxed copy of a certified court record may be admissible as secondary evidence to establish that an out-of-state conviction qualifies as a serious felony under California's Three Strikes law. Although the faxed copy was not independently certified under Evidence Code section 1530, other certified court records and circumstantial evidence sufficiently authenticated it. The court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

Holdings

1. A faxed copy of a certified copy of an official court record does not satisfy the certification requirements of Evidence Code section 1530 merely because it reproduces the original certification, but it is not categorically inadmissible. It may be admitted as secondary evidence if separately authenticated and if no statutory ground for exclusion applies.
2. The prosecution sufficiently authenticated the faxed indictment page through circumstantial evidence, including its consistency with other certified records from the same Alabama case.
3. The proponent of a faxed or otherwise noncertified copy of an official writing bears the burden of producing additional evidence of authenticity.
4. Defendant forfeited his constitutional confrontation and cross-examination claim by objecting only on foundational grounds at trial.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a faxed copy of an original certified copy of an official court record may be admitted to prove the nature of a prior conviction under California's Secondary Evidence Rule.
2. Whether the prosecution established sufficient authenticity for the faxed indictment page through its contents and comparison with other authenticated records.
3. Whether the faxed document was sufficient to support the finding that defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury during the Alabama offense.
4. Whether defendant preserved a constitutional confrontation and cross-examination challenge to admission of the faxed document.

Disposition

affirmed