United States v. Sandor Regner

The majority accepts a rule of evidence that, if given wider application, will have devastating consequences for Americans who encounter legal difficulties while travelling abroad for business or pleasure. Under the majority’s analysis, an authenticated document that a foreign state labels as a public record can be admitted in our courts without the foundation necessary for admitting business records. In a country such as Hungary, where the state controls numerous activities that would be characterized as private here, virtually all documents assume a public label. As a consequence of that…