FI L ED U.S. COURT OF A P P E A LS E LE V EN T H C IR C U IT J ULY 21, 2008 THOMAS K. KAH

N CL ERK [DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UN ITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE EL EV EN TH CIRC UI T

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ N o. 07- 1453 4 Non-A rgum ent Calendar

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ D. C. Docket N o. 06-00071 -CR- 4 UNITED STAT ES OF AMERIC A,
Pl ai nt iff -Ap pe ll ee, ve rs us EDWARD F. DAVIS, Defen da nt -Ap pe ll an t.

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Appeal f rom the United State s District Court fo r the N orthe rnD istri ct

of G eo rg ia

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ _ (J ul y 21 , 200 8) Be fo re BL A CK , MA RC U S an d W IL SO N , Ci rc uit Jud ge s. PE R CU RIA M:2

E dw ar d F re e D av is a

ppe al s hi s c onvi ct ionon tw o c ount s of e xe cu tin g and atte m pti ng t o e xe cu te asc he m e an d art if ic e to d ef ra ud the F ir st N at ion al Bank o f Barn es vil le ( Fi rs t N at ion al ), in vio latio n of 18 U
. S. C. §§ 2 , 134 4( 1)
. O n a ppe al , D av is c la im s th e dis tr ic t c ourt e rr ed in adm itt ing f

al sif ie d de bt a ssi gnm en t sh ee ts ge ne rate d by

his c om pany , I nte rn at ion al Carp et s, I nc . ( IC I) , und er the bus ine ss reco rd s ex cep ti on to th e g en eral rul e ag ai ns t t he ad m is si on of h ears ay ev id en ce. Sp ec if ic al ly , D av is c ont en ds A m y V au ghn, the c as h f

lowpr oc es sor

a t F ir st N at ion al , w as not

c om pe te nt t o lay

the f ound at ionf

or the gov er

nm en t’ s e xhi bit s be ca use the a dm itt ed

doc um en ts w er e cr eate d by I CI , not F ir st N at ion al
. Adis tr ic t c ourt ha s br oa d di sc re tio n inde te rm ini ng the a dm iss ibi lity of
ev id en ce, an d we r ev ie w it s ru li ng s o n s uc h m at te rs forab us e o f di sc ret io n. U nited Sta tes v . P etrie , 302 F
. 3d 1 280, 128 5 ( 11th C ir
. 200 2)
. H ears ay is generally not adm issib le as evidence. Fed. R. Evid. 802. How ever, the Feder al Rules of E vidence provid e the following are not exclud ed by the hearsay

rule: Am em or an dum , r ep ort, r ec or d, or da tac om pil at ion , in any

f orm , of ac ts, e ve nts , c ondi tio ns, opi nio ns, or dia gnos es , m ad e at

or ne ar the tim e by , or

f ro m inf orm at iontr an sm itt ed

by , ape rs on w ith know le dge , if

ke pt i n th e co ur se of

ar eg ularl y

c ondu ct ed

bus ine ss ac tiv ity , and i f it w as the r eg ular pr ac tic e of that bu sin es s a ct ivi ty

to m ake the m em orandum , r eport, r ecord or data c om pilation , a ll as sh own by the tes ti m on y

of t he cu st od ia n o r ot he r qu al ifi edwit ne ss . . . unl es s th e sour ce of

inf orm at ionor

the m ethod or

c ir cum stanc es of pr ep ar at ionind ic at e la ck

of tr ustw orthi ne ss.3

Fe d. R. E vid
. 803 (6 ). “ T he tou ch sto ne of a dm iss ibi lity

und er the bus ine ss r ec or ds exception to th e hear say

rule is reliability .” U

nited Sta tes v . B ue no- Sie rra , 99 F. 3d 3 75, 378 ( 11th C ir
. 199 6)
. “ Fo r thi s e xc ep tio n to be a va ila ble , a ll pe rs ons inv olv ed in the pr oc es s m

ust be a ct ing in the r eg ular co ur se of busin ess—otherwise, an essential link in the trustworthiness chain is m issin g.” T. Harris Y oung & Assocs. , I

nc. v . M arqu ette E lecs., Inc. , 931 F
. 2d 8 16, 828 ( 11th Ci r. 199 1)
. “ [T ] he pr opon en t of adoc um en t or din ar ily

ne ed not be the e nti ty whose first-hand knowledge wa s the basis of the facts sough t to be proved.” B ue no- Sie rra , 99 F
. 3d at 37 9. N one the le ss, “ the pr opon en t m ust e sta bli sh tha t i t
w as the bus ine ss p ra ct ic e of the r ec or din g e nti ty

to obt ai n su chinf

orm at ionf

ro m pe rs ons w ithpe rs ona l kn ow le dge and the bus ine ss p ra ct ic e of the pr opon en t t o
m aintain the records produced by the rec ording enti ty .” Id
. T houg h th e as sig nm en t sh ee ts i n qu es tio n w er e cr eate d by I CI and the fo undatio n f

or the ir a dm iss ionw as la id i n part by V au ghn, an e m

plo y ee of F ir st N at ion al , the c ourt di d no t a buse it s di sc re tio n ina dm itt ing the m a s bu sin es s re co rd s. T he G ove rn m en t su ppor te d th e intro duc tio n of

the a ssi gnm en t sh ee ts
w ithe vid en ce that the e nti tie s in vol ve d inthe ir c re at ion , tr an sm iss ion , and s tor ag e we re operating in the regular c ourse of busin ess. T he testim ony of Charle s Ga llm an, pre sident of Am erican Financial Ser vices (A m erican Financial),4

established h is com

pany rec eived the assignm ent sheets from ICI , which created the doc um en ts. A m er ic anF inanc ia l the n f ax ed the a ssi gnm en t sh ee ts t o F ir st N at ion al in the r eg ular co ur se of A m er ic anF inanc ia l’ s bu sin es s. T he te sti m ony of Vaughn established th at First N ational received the docum ents from Am erican Fi nanc ia l and k ep t the m

in the nor

m al c our se of

it s bu sin es s. B ec au se a ll the inv olv ed e nti tie s w er e ope ratin g inthe nor m al c our se of

bus ine ss, a ll the li nks of th e “ tru st wor th in es s ch ai n” are p res en t wi th reg ardto th e as si gn m en t s he et s. See T. H arr is Yo ung & A sso cs . , 931 F. 2d at 828
. Moreover, Va ughn , though no t an
em plo y ee of I CI , w as aqua lif

ie d w itn es s th ro ugh w hom to intro duc e the assignm ent sheets, since she m aintained records of these docum ents in her role as
ca sh f lowpr oc es sor

onc e Fi rs t N at ion al r ec ei ve d th em f ro m A m er ic anF inanc ia l i n its or din ar

y c our se of bus ine ss. T hus, the G ove rn m en t e sta bli she d th e as sig nm en t she et s m et

the bus ine ss r ec or ds e xc ep tio n, and the dis tr ic t c ourt di d no t a buse it s d i s c r e t i o ni na d mi t t i n g th e m. AF FIRMED