Opinion ID: 656149
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Kaiser's Testimony

Text: 25 Kim Kaiser was ARC's office manager. She signed the Three Way invoice for Macey at his direction. She testified during an offer of proof that, four hours after executing the invoice, she asked Macey what it was for, and he responded recordkeeping services. Macey argues that the testimony was admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(3). The court disagreed, and precluded the testimony as impermissible hearsay. Again, we must determine whether the court abused its discretion. We must ask whether no reasonable person could take the view adopted by the trial court. Fulford, 980 F.2d at 1114. 26 Rule 803(3) creates an exception to the hearsay rule when the statement concerns the declarant's then existing state of mind ... such as intent ... but not including a statement of memory or belief to prove the fact remembered or believed.... The Advisory Committee Note to Rule 803(3) states that the rule is essentially a specialized application of Rule 803(1). The Advisory Committee Note to Rule 803(1) explicitly requires a substantial contemporaneity of event and statement [to negate] the likelihood of deliberate or conscious misrepresentation. Because of this, we require that statements offered under Rule 803(3) must be contemporaneous with the ... event sought to be proven; [therefore] it must be shown that the declarant had no chance to reflect--that is, no time to fabricate or misrepresent his thoughts.... United States v. Jackson, 780 F.2d 1305, 1315 (7th Cir.1986). 27 Macey claims that his statement shows that he never intended the invoice to be fraudulent--that he always intended it to cover recordkeeping services. But the statement was made four hours after the invoice was executed. The district court could have reasonably concluded that Macey had time to fabricate a story in the four hours between his fraud and his statement to Kaiser. Because good reason existed for its decision, the district court did not abuse its discretion by precluding Kaiser's hearsay testimony.