Opinion ID: 2967728
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Count 7: Eunicea and Larry Ellerbe

Text: Eunicea Ellerbe testified that she retained Hayes through her sister, Cynthia Peeples. Ellerbe gave relevant documents to Peeples for delivery to Hayes, and Hayes then prepared a tax return for Ellerbe and her husband. This return included, among other inaccurate figures, a claimed deduction of $16,381 for medical expenses. Ellerbe testified that she did not give Hayes any information supporting such a deduction. Hayes contends that his conviction relating to the Ellerbe tax return is not supported by sufficient evidence because there was no evidence negating the possibility that Peeples, rather than Hayes, invented the deductions listed on the Ellerbe return. We disagree. Peeples testified at trial that, in addition to recruiting Hayes to prepare returns for Ellerbe, she twice hired him to prepare her own returns. The first return included deductions not supported by the information Peeples had provided to Hayes, and Peeples was audited as a result. She testified that she subsequently instructed Hayes to do my taxes, but only put the figures on my taxes of what I give you. J.A. 564-65. The jury could reasonably infer that Peeples would not adhere to this policy for herself and yet provide Hayes with false information about her sister’s taxes. This inference is particularly strong in light of the substantial similarities connecting the misstatements in the Ellerbe return with those in other returns prepared by Hayes. Cf. Morgan v. Foretich, 846 F.2d 941, 944 (4th Cir. 1988) (holding that evidence that two halfsisters suffered similar sexual abuse tended to show that they were abused by their common parent or grandparents).