U.S. Bank National Assn. v. McCoy

The business records exception to hearsay under OEC 803(6) does not permit "a party to substitute testimony regarding the contents of records for the records themselves."

Defendant appealed the trial court's grant of Plaintiff's summary judgment motion. Defendant assigned error to the trial court's denial of Defendant's motion to strike Bank's inadmissible hearsay that supported its summary judgment motion. On appeal, Defendant argued that Plaintiff's declaration was inadmissible hearsay, and did not qualify for the business records exception of hearsay because, although Plaintiff laid foundation to introduce the records to satisfy the business records exception, Plaintiff failed to introduce the records. In response, Plaintiff argued that its declaration was not hearsay, or if it was, it qualified for the business records exception. Testimony about a qualified "memorandum, report, record, or data compilation" without introducing such document, is inadmissible hearsay under OEC 803(6). The business records exception does not permit "a party to substitute testimony regarding the contents of records for the records themselves." The Court of Appeals held that the trial court erred in granting Plaintiff's summary judgment motion because paragraph seven of Plaintiff's declaration was inadmissible hearsay, that without, the evidence was insufficient to establish judgment as a matter of law. Reversed and remanded.