California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Downer v. Zolin, 34 Cal.App.4th 578, 40 Cal.Rptr.2d 288 (Cal. App. 1995):
"A writing is admissible under the official record exception to the hearsay rule if it was made (1) as a record of an act, condition, or event, (2) by and [34 Cal.App.4th 582] within the scope of a public employee's duty, (3) at or near the time of the act, condition, or event, and (4) the sources of information and method and time of preparation were such as to indicate its trustworthiness." (Arconti v. Zolin (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 407, 409, 39 Cal.Rptr.2d 689, citation omitted.) While the report in Arconti was dated, it did not indicate when the tests were completed. Consequently, the license suspension was overturned because, among other things, there was no way to tell whether the report was made at or near the time of the reported event.
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