Hamilton v. State

In Hamilton v. State, 297 Ga. App. 47 (676 SE2d 773) (2009), the Court held that the testimony of a motel housekeeping supervisor "that each time someone used a key card to enter a guest room, the motel computer made a record of the card used and the time," established a proper foundation for the admission of a computer printout of the motel's electronic lock log. Id. at 48 (1). The Court rejected the defendant's argument that the housekeeping supervisor, who had little, if any, knowledge about the specifics of the log, was not qualified to establish the requisite foundation, explaining: The housekeeper did not have to personally maintain the electronic lock log in order to lay a proper foundation for its admission: The business records exception does not require that the person laying the foundation for the admission of business records be the custodian of the records. Instead, it requires only that the record offered to prove an act or transaction be made in the regular course of business and that it is the regular course of business to make the record at the time of the act or transaction. The witness's lack of personal knowledge regarding how the records were created does not render them inadmissible, but merely affects the weight given to the evidence. Id. at 48-49 (1).