Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 46, § 19

Use of records as evidence

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Section 19. The record of the town clerk relative to a birth, marriage or death shall be prima facie evidence of the facts recorded, but nothing contained in the record of a death which has reference to the question of liability for causing the death shall be admissible in evidence. A certificate of such a record, signed by the town clerk or assistant clerk, or a certificate of the copy of the record relative to a birth, marriage or death required to be kept in the department of public health, signed by the commissioner of public health or the registrar of vital records and statistics, shall be admissible as evidence of such record. Upon request for an abbreviated record of a birth, marriage or death, the clerk or assistant clerk, commissioner of public health or registrar of vital records and statistics, shall make an abstract of the record of the same without notation thereon of the name of the parent or parents, except by request of the applicant. Upon the written request of the person to whom the record relates or of either of his parents, the clerk or assistant clerk, commissioner of public health or registrar of vital records and statistics, shall issue a certified copy of a birth record containing no reference to the color of said person or his parents.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 27 cases, 1922–2013 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Garabedian

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Commonwealth v. Garabedian (1987) mass · cites it 2× “Muldoon, which was admissible under G.L.c. 46, § 19. (1984 ed.). The death certificate, by itself, is "prima facie evidence of the facts recorded.”

Secretary of the Commonwealth v. City Clerk of Lowell (1977) mass · cites it 2× “" Having thus devised and enacted a statutory scheme to ensure the completeness and authenticity of the vital records with which we are dealing, the Legislature took the next logical step by enacting the following pertinent provisions of G.L.c. 46, § 19, as amended through St.…”

Blake v. First Physicians Cor (2003) ca1 “Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 46, § 19 . In the plaintiffs’ view, the Federal Rules of Evidence “are not intended to substitute for, or trump, a clear state substantive right to have certain evidence admitted in a state tort death claim.”

Woodward v. Commissioner of Social Security (2002) mass “Moreover, although a birth certificate is prima facie evidence of the facts recorded therein, G. L. c. 46, § 19, under our laws, genetic and legal parentage are not always coterminous.”

Commonwealth v. Carr (2013) mass “Over objection, the trial judge allowed the Commonwealth’s motion in limine permitting the introduction of a medical examiner’s death certificate of the victim as “prima facie evidence as to the cause of death,” pursuant to G. L. c. 46, § 19. 8 The certificate was admitted…”

Commonwealth v. Lykus (1989) mass “The judge properly charged the jury that G. L. c. 46, § 19 (1988 ed.), provides that a death certificate is prima facie evidence of the time of death, and that prima facie evidence is “that evidence which if unexplained or uncontradicted is deemed sufficient in the trial of a…”

Miles v. Edward O. Tabor, M.D., Inc. (1982) mass “The flaw in the defendant’s argument is that he views the death certificate as definitive on the issue of causation.”

Commonwealth v. Lannon (1974) mass · cites it 2× “As to the challenged portion of the death certificate 1 the defendant contends that G. L. c. 46, § 19, as amended through St.”

Commonwealth v. French (1970) mass “The trial judge took pains to prevent the jury from learning, through introduction of the appropriate death certificates (see G. L. c. 46, § 19, as amended through St.”

Resendes v. Boston Edison Co. (1995) massappct “, G. L. c. 46, § 19 (certificate of records of town clerk as to birth, death, or marriage admissible); G.”

Blake v. SOUTHCOAST HEALTH SYSTEM, INC. (2002) mad · cites it 5× “803(9); and (d) the entire death certificate should have been admitted as prima facie evidence pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 46, § 19 in accordance with Fed.”

Pahigian v. Manufacturers' Life Insurance (1965) mass “The death certificate, which is prima facie evidence (G. L. c. 46, § 19), so states and is to be taken as true in the absence of evidence to the contrary.”

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