Section 24-9-901. Requirement of authentication or identification

   (a) The requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility shall be satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.

(b) By way of illustration only, and not by way of limitation, the following are examples of authentication or identification conforming with the requirements of this Code section:

   (1) Testimony of a witness with knowledge that a matter is what it is claimed to be;

   (2) Nonexpert opinion as to the genuineness of handwriting, based upon familiarity not acquired for purposes of the litigation;

   (3) Comparison by the trier of fact or by expert witnesses with specimens which have been authenticated. Such specimens shall be furnished to the opposite party no later than ten days prior to trial;

   (4) Appearance, contents, substance, internal patterns, or other distinctive characteristics, taken in conjunction with circumstances;

   (5) Identification of a voice, whether heard firsthand or through mechanical or electronic transmission or recording, by opinion based upon hearing the voice at any time under circumstances connecting it with the alleged speaker;

   (6) Telephone conversations, by evidence that a call was made to the number assigned at the time by a telephone service provider to a particular person or business, if:

      (A) In the case of a person, circumstances, including self-identification, show the person answering to be the one called; or

      (B) In the case of a business, the call was made to a place of business and the conversation related to business reasonably transacted over the telephone;

   (7) Evidence that a document authorized by law to be recorded or filed and in fact recorded or filed in a public office or a purported public record, report, statement, or data compilation, in any form, is from the public office where items of this nature are kept;

   (8) Evidence that a document or data compilation, in any form:

      (A) Is in such condition as to create no suspicion concerning its authenticity;

      (B) Was in a place where it, if authentic, would likely be; and

      (C) Has been in existence 20 years or more at the time it is offered;

   (9) Evidence describing a process or system used to produce a result and showing that the process or system produces an accurate result; or

   (10) Any method of authentication or identification provided by law.

Code 1981, § 24-9-901, enacted by Ga. L. 2011, p. 99, § 2/HB 24.