A party may prove the contents of writings, recordings, or photographs by the testimony or deposition of the party against whom they are offered or by that party’s written admission, without accounting for the nonproduction of the original.
This statute provides a significant exception to the Best Evidence Rule. It allows the content of a document to be proven by an admission from the opposing party. If a party admits—either in live testimony, in a pre-trial deposition, or in a written statement—what a document says, that admission is sufficient to prove its content. The party offering the admission does not need to produce the original document or explain why the original is unavailable.
