Evidence as to Death or Status

Evidence as to Death or Status. (a) A certified or authenticated copy of a death certificate purporting to be issued by an official or agency of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, if the death purportedly occurred in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or by an official or agency of the place where the death purportedly occurred, if the death purportedly occurred outside the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, is prima facie proof of the fact, place, date, and time of death and the identity of the decedent. (b) A certified or authenticated copy of any record or report of a governmental agency of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or other governmental entity, foreign or domestic, that a person is missing, detained, dead, or alive is prima facie evidence of the dates, circumstances, status, and places disclosed by the record or report. (c) If a person is absent for a continuous period during which they have not been heard from, and the person’s absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search or inquiry, and if the person has been exposed to a specific peril of death, this fact shall be considered by the court, or if there be a jury, shall be sufficient evidence for submission to the jury on the issue of whether the person is dead. (d) A person who is absent for a continuous period of five years, during which the person has not been heard from, whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search or inquiry, is presumed to be dead. The person’s death is presumed to have occurred at the end of the period and if there is sufficient evidence for determining that death occurred earlier, this fact shall be considered by the court or jury. Source: PL 3-106, ch. 1, § 6.