Flashcards Studio

Facts: In a civil action to recover the price under a land sale contract, the original deed and title certificate were destroyed in a warehouse fire. Plaintiff offers a scanned image of the deed and title certificate retrieved from the registry’s online portal; the scan bears the registrar’s electronic signature but is not authenticated in court. The defendant objects on the ground that this violates the best evidence rule.   (a)Identify the governing doctrine of Liberal Construction of the Rules on Evidence and its operative scope. (b)Under liberal construction, and given the loss of the original and the proffered secondary evidence, should the scanned image be admitted as secondary evidence? Explain the conditions that must be satisfied for admissibility, including authentication or corroboration requirements. (c)If the scanned image is admitted, what safeguards should the court impose to ensure reliability and fairness? Support your analysis with the controlling rule and its application to the facts.