Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 098-0579
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Public Act 098-0579


 

Public Act 0579 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 098-0579
 
SB1968 EnrolledLRB098 06547 RLC 36590 b

    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is
amended by changing Section 115-5 as follows:
 
    (725 ILCS 5/115-5)  (from Ch. 38, par. 115-5)
    Sec. 115-5. Business records as evidence.
    (a) Any writing or record, whether in the form of an entry
in a book or otherwise, made as a memorandum or record of any
act, transaction, occurrence, or event, shall be admissible as
evidence of such act, transaction, occurrence, or event, if
made in regular course of any business, and if it was the
regular course of such business to make such memorandum or
record at the time of such act, transaction, occurrence, or
event or within a reasonable time thereafter.
    All other circumstances of the making of such writing or
record, including lack of personal knowledge by the entrant or
maker, may be shown to affect its weight, but such
circumstances shall not affect its admissibility.
    The term "business," as used in this Section, includes
business, profession, occupation, and calling of every kind.
    (b) If any business, institution, member of a profession or
calling, or any department or agency of government, in the
regular course of business or activity has kept or recorded any
memorandum, writing, entry, print, representation or
combination thereof, of any act, transaction, occurrence, or
event, and in the regular course of business has caused any or
all of the same to be recorded, copied, or reproduced by any
photographic, photostatic, microfilm, micro-card, miniature
photographic, optical imaging, or other process which
accurately reproduces or forms a medium for so reproducing the
original, the original may be destroyed in the regular course
of business unless its preservation is required by law. Such
reproduction, when satisfactorily identified, is as admissible
in evidence as the original itself in any proceeding whether
the original is in existence or not and an enlargement or
facsimile of such reproduction is likewise admissible in
evidence if the original reproduction is in existence and
available for inspection under direction of court. The
introduction of a reproduced record, enlargement, or facsimile
does not preclude admission of the original. This Section shall
not be construed to exclude from evidence any document or copy
thereof which is otherwise admissible under the rules of
evidence.
    (c) No writing or record made in the regular course of any
business shall become admissible as evidence by the application
of this Section if:
        (1) Such writing or record has been made by anyone in
    the regular course of any form of hospital or medical
    business; or
        (2) Such writing or record has been made by anyone
    during an investigation of an alleged offense or during any
    investigation relating to pending or anticipated
    litigation of any kind, except during a hearing to revoke a
    sentence of probation or conditional discharge or an order
    of court supervision that is based on a technical violation
    of a sentencing order when the hearing involves a
    probationer or defendant who has transferred or moved from
    the county having jurisdiction over the original charge or
    sentence. For the purposes of this subsection (c),
    "technical violation" means a breach of a sentencing order
    but does not include an allegation of a subsequent criminal
    act asserted in a formal criminal charge.
    (d) Upon request of the moving party and with reasonable
notice given to the opposing party, in a criminal prosecution
in which the defendant is accused of an offense under Article
16 or 17 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of
2012, the court may, after a hearing, for good cause and upon
appropriate safeguards, permit live foundational testimony
business records as evidence, subject to cross-examination, in
open court by means of a contemporaneous audio and video
transmission from outside of this State.
(Source: P.A. 91-548, eff. 1-1-00.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2014