sara v. hawaiian cruises, ltd. 181 . 3d 1041, 1046 (9th circuit 1999)?

Answer 1

You mean Sana v. Hawaiian Cruises, Ltd. 181 F.3d 1041, 1046 (9th Circ. 1999). It's a pinpoint citation to the following page of text, which may or may not mean anything to you, but presumably references something which was being cited:

... the burden of proof and must lay appropriate foundation). We conclude from the record that Sana's co-workers were acting within the scope of their employment. Vaughan and its progeny require shipowners to investigate a seaman's claims for maintenance and cure. Also, Hudson had an independent duty to monitor and report any injuries or illness among his staff. In all likelihood, Sana's co-workers would have been disciplined had they refused to share information with their employer's insurance investigator. The fact that the interviews were conducted on company time supports this view.

Sana argues that Rutherford's recorded version of the employee statements is an admissible business record under Fed. R. Evid. 803(6), which excepts from the hearsay rule
[a] ... report ... of acts, events, [or] conditions ... made at or near the time by ... a person with knowledge, if kept in the ordinary course of a regularly conducted business activity, and if it was the regular practice of that business activity to make the ... report ... unless the source of the information or the method or circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness.

He claims that Rutherford's information gathering was a "regularly conducted business activity" on behalf of Beaudry Insurance. He also notes that the report was compiled on March 17, "at or near the time" of the recorded "events." Finally, Sana argues that the report is trustworthy, since Hawaiian Cruises had no incentive to generate evidence that he became ill at work.

Hawaiian Cruises argues that the Rutherford report is an accident report prepared in anticipation of litigation, and therefore it is not admissible as a business record. See Palmer v. Hoffman, 318 U.S. 109, 113, 87 L. Ed. 645, 63 S. Ct. 477 (1943) (court properly barred defendant railroad from introducing engineer's internal accident report). It also claims that since Rutherford was investigating whether Sana had suffered a head injury aboard the Navatek I, his report is not trustworthy to show that he manifested signs of encephalitis there. Finally, Hawaiian Cruises points out that for a business record to be admissible, each contributor must act in the regular course of business. See United States v. Pazsint, 703 F.2d 420, 425 (9th Cir. 1983) (court improperly admitted routinely recorded 911 tapes because callers had no duty to report information); see also Clark v. City of Los Angeles, 650 F.2d 1033, 1037 (9th Cir. 1981) (purported business records "are admissible only if the observer or participant in furnishing the information to be recorded was acting routinely, under a duty of accuracy, with employer reliance on the result, or ... in the regular course of business.") (citations omitted). Hawaiian Cruises argues that Kauhi, Ruben, and Hudson were not acting within the regular course of the vessel's business when they spoke to Rutherford.

At oral argument, it became clear that this issue was not well presented to the district court. We are obligated, however, to make an independent analysis of the record and relevant authority. We conclude that the Rutherford report qualifies as a business record under Rule 803(6). Although Rutherford may have interviewed Sana's co-workers in anticipation of a potential claim, the rationale for excluding such reports is not present here. Courts are rightfully wary when parties create self-serving documents and seek to offer them as business records. See Paddack v. Dave Christensen, Inc., 745 F.2d 1254, 1258-59 (9th Cir. 1984). Sana, however, sought to introduce a document created by Hawaiian Cruises' insurer, which had no incentive to gather evidence of Sana's illness.

Moreover, the report had other "circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness." See United States v. Scholl, 166 F.3d 964, 978 (9th Cir. 1999) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Rutherford had a duty to prepare an accurate report

Answer 2

42

Answer 3

Me thinks Tom needs a good waxing, but good jasus how low can he go huh, :)

Answer 4

huh

Answer 5

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