United States v. Diaz-Lopez, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 23253

Diaz-Lopez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested north of the U.S.-Mexico border on Feb 13, 2009.
He was charged with being a removed alien found in the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a).
At a bench trial, a Border Patrol agent testified he searched the CLAIMS database for Diaz using name, alien number, and DOB and found no record of Form I-212.
The government introduced this testimony to prove Diaz had no permission to reapply for admission.
The district court convicted Diaz and sentenced him to 21 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release.
Diaz appeals, challenging the foundation of the database testimony and its compliance with the best evidence rule.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the CLAIMS database search foundation was adequate.	Diaz argues the agent did not establish trustworthiness of CLAIMS.	Diaz contends insufficient foundation for Rule 803(10) reliance on CLAIMS.	Yes; the foundation was sufficient for admissibility.
Whether testimony that no record exists violated the best evidence rule.	Diaz claims the absence of a record requires production of an original printout.	Diaz argues the negative testimony is not admissible under Rule 1002.	No; best evidence rule does not apply to negative database-search testimony.

United States v. Rich, 580 F.2d 929 (9th Cir. 1978) (trustworthiness of records needed for rule 803(10))
U-Haul Int'l, Inc. v. Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co., 576 F.3d 1040 (9th Cir. 2009) (no expert needed; foundation via agent's familiarity with database procedures)
United States v. Neff, 615 F.2d 1235 (9th Cir. 1980) (agent's testimony of database search sufficient for rule 803(10))
United States v. Bennett, 363 F.3d 947 (9th Cir. 2004) (distinguishes absence-of-data testimony from content of GPS data)
Seiler v. Lucasfilm, Ltd., 808 F.2d 1316 (9th Cir. 1986) (origin rule applies to originals of writings/records)