Conn. R. Evid. 10-4
The contents of a record, report, statement or data compilation recorded or filed in a public office may be proved by a copy, certified in accordance with applicable law or testified to be correct by a witness who has compared it with the original.
Conn. Code. Evid. 10-4
COMMENTARY
Section 10-4 recognizes an exception to Section 10-1's requirement of an original for certified or compared copies of certain public records. Based on the impracticability and inconvenience involved in removing original public records from their place of keeping; see Brookfield v. Candlewood Shores Estates, Inc., 201 Conn. 1, 12, 513 A.2d 1218 (1986); Gray v. Davis, 27 Conn. 447, 454 (1858); Connecticut cases have allowed the contents of these documents to be proved by certified copies. E.g., Brown v. Connecticut Light & Power Co., 145 Conn. 290, 295-96, 141 A.2d 634 (1958); Lomas & Nettleton Co. v. Waterbury, 122 Conn. 228, 234-35, 188 A. 433 (1936). Allowing proof of contents by compared copies represents a departure from prior case law that is in accord with the modern trend. E.g., Fed. R. Evid. 1005.
In addition to this Section, statutory provisions address the use of copies to prove the contents of public records. See, e.g., General Statutes § 52-181.