## Facts

- Reginald T. Rembert was indicted and convicted on six counts: two counts each of kidnapping, interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, and armed robbery, stemming from two incidents involving ATM withdrawals using victims’ cards and codes.
- On July 7, 1987, Mary Simon was threatened at a Virginia ATM by a knife-wielding assailant she later identified as Rembert; after providing her code, cash was withdrawn, she was forced to travel into Washington, D.C. in her car, and she was robbed of property before being left in the vehicle.
- On July 26, 1987, Andrea McGee became stranded at a Washington, D.C. bank location; after several men assisted her vehicle, two men (including one she later identified as Rembert) obtained entry to her car, leading to offenses charged as kidnapping/robbery and theft/transportation of the vehicle.
- The government introduced ATM surveillance photographs generated automatically by a bank recording system that continuously recorded and produced still images at short intervals with date-and-time imprints.
- A bank loss-control supervisor testified to the system’s operation and the bank’s procedures for loading cameras, securing film, and retrieving images, and identified the offered photo strip as derived from the relevant recording.
- The supervisor conceded she did not personally observe the events depicted.
- Rembert objected that the photographs were not properly authenticated under Federal Rule of Evidence 901 because no eyewitness could verify the photos accurately showed what occurred.
- The district court admitted the photographs; the jury convicted Rembert on all counts, and he appealed solely on the authentication ruling.

## Issues

1. Whether bank surveillance photographs are sufficiently authenticated under Federal Rule of Evidence 901 when the sponsoring witness lacks personal knowledge of the depicted events.
2. Whether photographic evidence may be authenticated under a “silent witness” theory based on proof of the reliability and integrity of the recording process and chain of custody.

## Decision

- The court affirmed the convictions.
- The court held the photographs were properly authenticated under Rule 901(a) despite the absence of an eyewitness sponsor.
- The court accepted the “silent witness” theory and found the foundation adequate based on testimony about the system’s operation, time-stamping, security measures, and handling of the images.
- The court concluded any remaining challenges to accuracy or reliability affected weight, not admissibility, and the district court did not abuse its discretion.

## Legal Principles

- Federal Rule of Evidence 901(a) requires only evidence sufficient to support a finding that an exhibit is what its proponent claims; the standard demands a prima facie showing, with ultimate authenticity left to the jury.
- Photographs and recordings may be authenticated either by “pictorial testimony” (a witness with firsthand knowledge attesting to accuracy) or by “silent witness” authentication (foundational proof of a reliable process producing the image).
- Under the silent-witness approach, testimony describing the recording system’s operation, time-and-date features, security practices, and chain of custody can satisfy Rule 901 even when no witness observed the recorded events.
- Once a sufficient foundation is laid, arguments about equipment malfunction, gaps in reliability, or the correctness of particular images generally go to evidentiary weight rather than admissibility.

## Conclusion

The D.C. Circuit affirmed Rembert’s convictions, holding that ATM surveillance photographs were properly admitted because the government established a prima facie foundation under Rule 901 through evidence of the automated system’s reliability and the integrity of the images, even without an eyewitness to the events shown.


United States v. Rembert, 863 F.2d 1023 (D.C. Cir. 1988)