T hi s di s pos i t i on i s n o t ap p ro p ri a t e f orpubl i c a t i on a nd i s notpr e c e de nt * e xc e pta s pr ovi de d by N i nth C i r c ui tR ul e 36- 3. NOT F OR P UB L I CAT I ON UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS FOR T HE NI NTH CI RC UI T
UN I T E D S T AT E S OF AME R I C A, P l ai nt i ff

- A pp el l ee , v. J O H N EV A N BU RN S, D e f

e n d a n t - A p p e lla n t. N o. 10- 30110 D
. C
. N o. 3: 08 -c r- 00 13 2-T M B -1
ME MOR AN DU M *

A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt

f orthe D i s tr i c tof

A l a s ka T i m othy M
. B ur ge s s , D i s tr i c tJ udge , P r e s i di ng A r gue d a nd S ubm i tt e d A ugus t29, 2012

A nc hor a ge , A l a s ka B efo re: H A W K IN S , M cK E O W N , an d B E A , C i rcu i tJu d g es. Jo h n E v an B u rn s (“ B u rn s”) ap p eal s h i s j u ry tria l c o n v i ct i o n fo r m ak i n g fal se
s ta te m e n ts f

o rth e p u rp o s e s o f

in f lu e n c in g a b a n k , u n d e r1 8 U .S .C . § 1 0 1 4 , in
c onne c t i on w i th a c c ount s r e c e i vabl e r e por t s he s ubm i tt e d t o N or thr i m B a nk 

# FI LED SEP 10 2012 M OLLY C. DW Y ER, CLERK U
. S. C O U R T OF APPE ALSS e c t i on 1014 pr ovi de s , i n pe r t i ne ntpa r t : “ W hoe ve r k n o w i ngl y m a ke s a ny 1 f a l s e s t a t e m e ntorr e por t. . . f orthe purpos e of

i nf l ue nc i ng i n a ny w a y the a c t i on of

. . . any i nst i tut i on the ac coun t s of w hi ch ar e i nsured by the F eder al D eposi tInsura nce C o rp o rat i o n . . . u p o n an y a p p l i cat i o n , ad v an ce, d i sco u n t , p u rch ase, p u rch ase a gr e e m e n t , r e pur c ha s e a gr e e m e nt , c om m i tm e nt , l oa n, ori ns ur a nc e a gr e e m e ntor appl i c a t i on f

ori n su ra nc e ora gua r a nt e e , ora ny c ha nge ore xt e ns i on of a ny of the s a m e , by r e n e w a l , d e f

e r me n to f

a c t i o n , o ro th e rw i s e , o rth e a c c e p t a n c e , r e l e a s e , or s u b s t i tu t i o n o f

s e c u r i ty th e r e o f

, s h a l l b e [ p u n i s h e d a s p r o v i d e d b y l a w ]
. ” 18 U
. S. C. § 1014. 2 ( “N o r th r im ” ) u n d e rth e te r m s o f a r e v o lv in g lin e o f

c r e d it h e u s e d to f

in a n c e h is
u p f r o n te x p e n s e s . W e h a v e j u r i s d i c t i o n u n d e r2 8 U
. S. C. § 1 2 9 1 , a n d a f f i r m. I. S u ff

i ci en cy of E vi d en ce R e vi e w i ng de novo the d i st r i c tc our t ’ s rul i ng on B urns ’ m ot i on f orj udgm e nt
o f a c q u itta l b a s e d o n in s u f f ic ie n t e v id e n c e , U

n i ted S ta tes v. B erry , 68 3 F
. 3 d 1 014, 1 0 2 0 ( 9 th C ir . 2 0 1 2 ) , w e c o n c lu d e th e r e w a s s u f f ic ie n t e v id e n c e f

o ra r a tio n a l ju ry to f i n d th e essen t i al el em en t s o f a § 1 0 1 4 co n v i ct i o n b eyo n d a reaso n ab l e d o u b t. See U n ite d S ta te s v . N

e v ils , 598 F
. 3d 1158, 1161 ( 9th C i r . 2010) ( e n ba nc ) ( c i t i ng J ac k s on
v . V ir g in ia , 4 4 3 U
. S
. 3 0 7 , 3 1 9 (1 9 7 9 )). A § 1 0 1 4 co n v i ct i o n req u i res a false
s t a t e m e nt , i t s f

a l s i ty know n by the de f e nda nt , m a de f

orthe purp o se of

i nf l ue nc i ng a b a n k in a n y w a y . P a y e s tim a te s a n d tr ia l te s tim o n y f r o m th e g e n e r a l c o n tr a c to r s w ith 1

w h o m B u rn s w o rk ed , th o u g h n o ti n ev ery si tu at i o n p erfect su b st i tu t es fo r th e b u si n ess
r e c or ds B urns c oul d not f i nd, i ndi c a t e d the y di d notow e B urns a s m uc h, a nd of t e n not
n earl y as m u ch , as h e cl ai m ed i n th e n i n e rep o rt s t o N o rth ri m u n d erl yi n g th e tw en ty-T he re cord i s cl ea r that B urns’ R ul e 4 04 (b) o bj ec t i on before the di stri ctcourt 2 w as no tt o the l oan o ff

i ce r’ s t es t i m on y i n i t s e nt i re ty, bu tspec i fi ca l l y t o any re fe re nce to B u rn s ’ p u rp o r te d m is u s e o f a F ir s t N a tio n a l b u s in e s s a c c o u n t s e p a r a t e f r o m h is r e vol vi ng l i ne of

c r e di t . N ordi d de f

e ns e c ouns e l obj e c t t o the l oa n of f i c e r ’ s t e s t i m ony o n R u le 4 0 4 ( b ) g r o u n d s d u r in g th e tr ia l. 3 f ourc ount s of

c onvi c t i on. T ha tB urns ove r s t a t e d hi s r e c e i vabl e s s o r e gu l arl y a nd
s ig n if ic a n tly w a s s u f

f ic ie n t to a llo w th e ju ry to in f e rc ir c u m s ta n tia lly th a t h e k n e w h is
r e por t s w e r e i na c c ur a t e , a nd the j ury w a s e nt i t l e d t o r e j e c thi s t es t i m ony t o the contra ry . T hat th e la sttw o report s B urns subm i tt ed m ayno thave been m ade i n an
e f f o r t to p r o c u r e a d d itio n a l f u n d s f r o m N o r t h r i m d o e s n o t h e lp h im h e r e ; th e s ta tu te
r e q u ir e s o n ly th a t th e f

a ls e s ta te m e n ts w e r e m a d e to in f lu e n c e N o rth r im ’s a c tio n s “in
a ny w a y , ” a nd B urns hi m s e l f t e s t i f i e d tha t i f he di d not s ubm i t r e por t s i n d i ca t i ng
ac coun t s r ec ei vabl e abo ve a c ert ai n thres ho l d, N orthri m w ou l d h ave t aken addi t i on al
a c tio n , in c lu d in g d e m a n d in g im m e d ia te r e p a y m e n t o r r e s tru c tu r in g h is lin e o f c r e d it. II . A d m i ss i b i l i ty of R u l e 404 (b ) E vi d en ce T he di s tr i c t c our t di d not pl a i nl y e rr i n a dm i tt i ng unde r R ul e 404( b) t e s t i m ony by a F i r s t N a t i ona l B a nk of A l a s ka ( “ F i r s t N a t i ona l ” ) l oa n of f i c e rr e ga r di ng c onc e rns abou tB urns’ ac coun t i ng prac t i ce s s he shar ed w i th h i m w hen h e pre vi ou sl y m ai nt ai ned
a r e v o lv in g lin e o f

c r e d it a t F ir s t N a tio n a l. T h e e v id e n c e w a s a d m i s s i b l e if it c o u ld 2 sat i sfy o u r fo u r-factor R u l e 4 0 4 (b ) i n q u ir y , s e e U n i ted S ta tes v. R o m ero , 282 F
. 3d 6 8 3 , 6 8 8 ( 9 th C ir . 2 0 0 2 ) , ce rt. deni ed , 537 U
. S
. 858 ( 2002) , a nd s ur vi ve R ul e 403D e f e ns e c ouns e l obj e c t e d t o both r e f e r e nc e s a ttr i a l , a nd i n both i ns t a nc e s , the 3 di s tr i c tc our tof

f e r e d t o i s s ue a c ur a t i ve i ns truc t i on. 4 ba l a nc i ng. B urns c onc e de s thr e e of the f ourf a c t or s , a r gui ng onl y tha tthe t e s t i m ony d id n o t p r o v e a m a te r ia l p o in t. T h a t B u rn s h a d b e e n p r e v i o u s l y in f o r m e d h is
acco u n t i n g p ract i ces w ere su sp ectw as d i rect l y p ro b at i v e o f w h eth er h e “ k n o w i n g l y”
s ubm i tt e d th e f

a l s e s t a t e me n t s t o N o r th r i m, a n e s s e n t i a l e l e me n t o f a § 1014
c o n v ic tio n . U n d e r R u l e 4 0 3 , it w a s w e ll w ith in th e d is tr ic t c o u r t’s d is c r e tio n to det erm i ne thatany r i sk of prej ud i ce w as ou tw ei gh ed by thi s probat i ve val ue. II I. P rose cu tori al M i sc on d u ct B urns a l s o a r gue s , i n e f

f e c t , tha tthe di s tr i c tc our tf a i l e d t o de c l a r e a m i s tr i a l s ua
s p o n te w h e n th e p r o s e c u tio n r e f e r e n c e d h is e v e n tu a l f

a ilu r e to p a y b a c k th e N o r th r im l o an fi rstd u ri n g its o p en i n g st at em en tan d ag ai n w h en cro ss-ex am i n i n g B u rn s. 3 U n d e rp la in e rr o rr e v ie w , U ni ted Stat es v. B an ks , 51 4 F
. 3d 95 9, 97 3-74 (9th C i r. 20 08 ), thi s argum ent fa i l s. T here w as no pretri al agre em entthatB urns’ fa i l ure t o p ay
o f f th e lo a n , w h ic h w a s r e le v a n t to w h e th e rh e h a d b e e n o v e r s ta tin g h is a c c o u n ts
r e c e i vabl e , w a s of

f
- l i m i t s dur i ng the tr i a l , a nd the di s tr i c t c our t , by i t s ow n a dm i s s i on, di d notc l e a r l y rul e t o t h at effect unt i l a f t e rthe s e c ond r e f

e r e nc e . T he r e f

or e , the
r e feren ces t o the l oa n de f a ul tdi d nota m ountt o m i s c onduc t , a nd a ta ny r a t e , B urns do es no tadequat el y e xp l ai n h ow they r endered the tri al fund am ent al l y unfai r.5

AF F I RME D.