Rule 2:901.REQUIREMENT OF AUTHENTICATION OR IDENTIFICATION

Rule 2:901 establishes the baseline threshold every piece of tangible or documentary evidence must clear before it comes into a case: authentication or identification. The rule states that requirement in a single, functional test — the proponent must offer evidence sufficient to support a finding that the thing in question is what the proponent claims it is.

That standard is deliberately modest. It does not require conclusive proof of authenticity, nor does it ask the court to resolve any factual dispute about the item’s genuineness. It asks only whether a reasonable fact-finder could conclude, based on the evidence offered, that the item is what the proponent says — a photograph of the accident scene, a signature on a contract, a recording of a phone call. Once that threshold showing is made, the ultimate question of whether the item is authentic becomes a matter for the fact-finder to weigh alongside the rest of the evidence.

Rule 2:901 works as the general rule, with Rule 2:902 supplying specific categories of evidence that are self-authenticating and need no additional proof, and Rule 2:903 clarifying that a subscribing witness’s testimony is not generally required to authenticate a writing.