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Internet Printout of Immunization Schedule Unverified by Medical Professional Not Subject to Judicial Notice

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From TR v. LVM, 209 P.3d 879 (Wyo. Sup. Ct. 2009):

Appellant, T.R. (Mother), appeals a district court's decision and order finding her unfit and appointing Appellees, L.V.M. and A.R.M. (Grandparents), who are the children's paternal grandparents, guardians of her two minor children, A.R. and C.R. ***

Mother first contends that the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted printouts from the internet as evidence of a proper immunization schedule. We agree that the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted that material into evidence. The document was an unverifiable printout from the internet and the only foundation that could be laid for it was a description of the Google search Grandmother performed in order to find the information. The district court appears to have admitted the document under the theory that it could take judicial notice of the facts contained therein.

W.R.E. 201 governs judicial notice of adjudicative facts. Under the rule, "[a] judicially noticed fact must be one not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is either (1) generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or (2) capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned." W.R.E. 201(b). This printout was admitted to prove the proper schedule of immunizations for A.R. and C.R. This is not a fact that is "generally known." A printout from an unverified source on the internet, which has not been authenticated by a medical expert, cannot be categorized as a source of information "whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned." It was an abuse of discretion for the trial court to take judicial notice of the facts contained in this document under Rule 201. However, we find that the error was harmless because the properly admitted medical records showed that Mother did not comply with her own doctor's schedule with respect to vaccinations, and because Mother admitted on the stand that the doctor had to restart the series of childhood vaccines for A.R. and C.R. because Mother did not comply with the schedule.

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New York Attorneys JHA handles range the gamut of complex financial and commercial litigation and arbitration, including securities, RICO, corporate and contract disputes, credit default swaps, derivatives, and class, mass, and derivative actions. The firm also represents law firms in major disputes.
New York Attorneys JHA handles range the gamut of complex financial and commercial litigation and arbitration, including securities, RICO, corporate and contract disputes, credit default swaps, derivatives, and class, mass, and derivative actions. The firm also represents law firms in major disputes.

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