Rule 5.1007 Testimony or statement of a party to prove content

Here's what this rule means: if you're trying to prove what a document, recording, or photo said, you can use the other side's own words to do it. This includes their testimony in court, their deposition answers, or a written statement they made.

The big advantage here is that you don't need to bring the actual original document to court. If the other party already admitted what the writing, recording, or photo showed or said, that admission is good enough. You don't have to explain why you don't have the original or where it went.

This makes sense because the law figures people shouldn't be able to deny what they already agreed to. If someone already testified or stated what a document said, they can't later demand that the original be produced before that evidence counts. Their own statement does the job.