Foundational evidence is used to lay the groundwork for other evidence to be admitted by the court at trial
The laying of the foundational evidence helps ensure the evidence offered at trial is genuine, authentic, and trustworthy.
Example of establishing a foundation before the court will allow medical records to be entered into evidence:
For medical records to be entered into evidence, the designated legal custodian of those records, usually a hospital administrator in charge of managing the hospital’s medical records, is subpoenaed to court with the subject records and testifies under penalty of perjury that the records produced are true and correct copies of the subject patient.
In most cases, this testimony will be sufficient to establish a foundation that the medical records are genuine and trustworthy.
